Rajasthan: Kota official wants women to give up family land rights | Jaipur News
The letter, made public on August 21 by the office of Digod tehsildar Dilip Singh Prajapati under the heading, ‘Raksha Bandhan ko yaadgaar banaiye, bahino se swechhik hak tyag karvaiye (Make Raksha Bandhan memorable, get sisters to voluntarily relinquish their rights)’, started a storm in the desert state.
“When a khatedar (landowner) passes away, the names of his son, daughter and wife are entered in his place as his natural heirs. In several religions and families, it has been the tradition for generations that sisters and daughters don’t take their share from parental agricultural land and immovable assets and instead take their share from the property of in-laws,” the release said.
The letter further argued that though women sometimes voluntarily relinquish their land rights, the process does not get completed due to negligence.
It further alleges that at times when the land is acquired by the government, the cheque for compensation often gets issued in the name of sisters or daughters.
“Circumstances give birth to sins and, in such situations, some sisters don’t return the amount of the cheque to their brothers. And in the end, the siblings die after not being on talking terms for their entire life,” it says.
Prajapati also says that in case a woman dies, the names of her husband or children are given as owners, and even though the person connecting the two families have died, the son-in-law ends up being the owner of the land and sells it at throwaway prices. The result is long-drawn court battles, even murders.
Following this, various social organisations, including PUCL Rajasthan, wrote an open letter to the chief minister and demanded the immediate withdrawal of the press note and suspension of the official for serious indiscipline.
They said that it was not only a violation of the law on property, Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (amended 2005), but contempt of Supreme Court order in the case of Vinita Sharma Vs Rakesh Sharma and others. They also called for action against the Kota collector for serious lapses in monitoring the tehsildar, causing a setback and trauma for all women of the state and the country.
Justifying his release, tehsildar Prajapati said that he had only made an appeal for “voluntarily relinquishing”. “Men and women are equal in the eyes of the law and the names of women are included in revenue records. But women who want to voluntarily relinquish their rights can do so. I have seen court battles for generations. This is just an appeal and not an order. I mentioned Raksha Bandhan because all women come to their parental homes at this time,” he said.
However, the district administration has not yet taken note of the appeal made by Digod tehsildar. “We will look into the matter on Tuesday and initiate action accordingly as it was a holiday on Monday,” said Kota district collector Ujjawal Rathore.
