In a major move with potentially far-reaching social and legal implications, the Uttar Pradesh Government is likely to grant land ownership rights to Pakistani refugees who have been living in the state for over seven decades.
A high-level committee headed by Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Anjaneya Kumar Singh has submitted its report to the State Government, recommending legal reforms that would enable these long-settled refugees to gain full proprietary rights over the land they currently occupy.
According to the report, nearly 20,000 refugee families, primarily Hindu and Sikh migrants who fled Pakistan during the 1947 Partition, currently inhabit approximately 50,000 acres of land across the districts of Rampur, Bijnor, Lakhimpur Kheri, and Pilibhit.
While many of them were given land for livelihood at the time of resettlement, they were never granted transferable bhoomidhar (landholder) rights. This lack of ownership has prevented them from selling the land, accessing institutional loans beyond seasonal crop credit, or using the land as collateral.
“Our families have lived here for generations, yet we are treated as if we are still temporary occupants,” said Balbir Singh, a third-generation refugee living in one of the 23 refugee villages in Rampur. “We grow crops, build homes, and even pay local taxes. Still, we cannot get a loan to build a proper house or expand our farm. It is like living with one foot tied.”
The committee report highlights how, unlike in Uttarakhand — where similar refugees have been granted ownership either for free or by paying a nominal portion of the land’s value — Uttar Pradesh has lagged behind. It proposes adopting the Uttarakhand model to provide legal land titles to the refugee families in UP. The report also states that new legislation would be required to override existing regulations that currently prevent such ownership transfers.
Many of these refugees were originally settled on Government-owned land, including plots belonging to the now-defunct Government Grants Act, Gram Sabhas, or various State departments. In some cases, families were even settled on forest land or grazing areas.
The committee notes that regularising such holdings will require amendments to relevant laws and, in the case of forest land, approval from the Supreme Court through the central government.
“Refugees in our village were given land, but we do not even have proper documents. We cannot sell the land, cannot build anything concrete. Our children go to school, some have government jobs, but we are still without legal rights,” said Gurdial Kaur, a refugee woman from Bijnor, where 18 villages have been occupied by such families since the 1950s. “If the Government finally gives us ownership, it will be like getting our identity back.”
The report recognises these emotional and economic hardships, emphasising that refugees must not be treated as encroachers on the very land they were invited to cultivate decades ago.
It recommends either offering transferable rights for a nominal fee or providing it free of cost, depending on the nature of the land and the family’s socio-economic condition.
However, complications remain. Some families have built homes on land classified as forest, grazing land, or ponds —areas where regularisation would be legally challenging.
For such cases, the report suggests either offering alternative land elsewhere or introducing legal amendments to accommodate current occupancies. Granting ownership over forest land would additionally require clearance from the SC.
“There is a moral responsibility to address the long-standing injustice faced by these people,” a senior official in the revenue department said on condition of anonymity. “They were promised a new beginning after Partition. It is high time those promises were kept.”
Given the complexity of the legal framework and the diversity of land categories involved, sources in the state secretariat indicated that the Government may soon form a cabinet sub-committee to examine the report and recommend a phased implementation plan.
The final decision, however, will lie with the state cabinet, and potentially require coordination with the Union Government for certain categories of land. “This is not just a legal issue—it is about dignity and belonging,” said Kamal Yadav, a local social worker who has worked closely with refugee families in Lakhimpur Kheri.
“They have waited too long. This move will not only change their economic prospects but also restore their faith in the system.”
For thousands of families who have lived for generations in the shadow of uncertainty, the Government’s willingness to address their plight marks a glimmer of long-awaited hope.
If approved, the initiative will finally recognize them not just as refugees, but as rightful citizens of the land they have called home for more than 75 years.