UP chief minister Mayawati has directed all divisional commissioners and district magistrates to allot small land holdings, known as pattas in local parlance, to landless and homeless dalits.
The move is apparently aimed at assuaging the feelings of the dalits who form core support base of the BSP.
The directive comes close on the heels of the chief minister’s decision to revamp her party for the next assembly elections and give more prominence to dalits.
The directive, issued on Friday, asks the concerned authorities to ensure that while allotting pattas to the landless poor, complaints of fraudulent allotments to ineligible persons must also be thoroughly probed.
The directive further underlines the need for regular monitoring of pattas and calls for strict action against mafias and musclemen, who are often found to be in illegal possession of such plots.
The chief minister has also urged the officials to personally carry out spot verification of various development and public welfare programmes.
Ms Mayawati has stressed upon the need for speeding up work related to long-pending consolidation of land holdings.
While expediting the verification of beneficiaries under destitute widow pension scheme, she directed officials to draw up a list of beneficiaries under Mahamaya Gharib Balika Ashirwad Yojana within one month’s time.