Owners to get back property in Bangla
From Our Staff Reporter, DACCA, JAN. 4 The Bangladesh Home Minister, Mr. Kamaruzzaman, announcing his Government’s scheme to rehabilitate about 30 million displaced citizens of the country including about 10 million who fled to India, told newsmen here today that properties would be restored to the rightful owners.
He said that more than half a million Bangladesh citizens had already returned to Bangladesh. They were being sheltered at transit camps. India, he said, was providing each of them about two weeks ration, blankets and other essential things before they camp in India.
India would also assist Bangladesh to set up transit camps where the returnees would be accommodated till they could go back to their homes.
The Bangladesh Government has also been assured of the UN assistance in the matter of rehabilitation and relief for the evacuees.
The Bangladesh Government also proposes to offer temporary labor-oriented jobs to the displaced persons.
Mr. Kamaruzzaman assured the displaced citizens that the Government proposed to set up arbitration councils in all the unions to restore their properties. If these councils failed to settle disputes over the ownership, the matter would be referred to the thana magistrates. If the dispute could not be settled there too, it would come up for arbitration before tribunals to be set up in sub-divisional level. The decision of these tribunals would be binding and final.
As for the implementation of the relief and rehabilitation projects the Government has decided to set up a six-tier machinery at the Central, district, subdivision, Thana, union, and village levels. Elected representatives will be associated with the machinery at all levels.
Damage caused by the Pakistanis to the lives and properties in Bangladesh are staggering by any standards. Mr. Kamaruzzuman estimated that about five to six million houses would have to be rebuilt. Nearly 200,000 artisans, craftsmen, weavers and fishermen would have to be provided with tools of their trade and about the same number of shopkeepers would have to be rehabilitated. Nearly 14,000,000 agricultural households in the country are without any bullocks, agricultural implements. They would have to be provided with equipment so that they could resume cultivation.
The Bangladesh Prime Minister Mr. Tajuddin Ahmed and his Cabinet met the Managing Editor of Hindustan Standard, Mr. Aveek Sarkar and his wife. The General Manager of the newspaper, Mr. Arup Sarkar, Associate Editor, Mr. Santosh Ghosh and other representatives of Ananda Bazar and Hindusthan Standard also joined Mr. Ahmed to dinner on that day after initial talks were over.
Reference: Hindustan Standard, 05.01.1972