Maha: Bill relaxing stringent provisions of land fragmentation passed

Nagpur, Dec 9 (IANS) The State Legislative Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed the Maharashtra Prevention of Fragmentation and Consolidation of Holdings (Amendment) Act, 2025, Bill, which significantly relaxes the stringent provisions of the land fragmentation (Tukdebandi) law in urban and planned areas.

The Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, who tabled the bill, claimed it is a major step towards resolving decades-old property ownership issues faced by common citizens.

Addressing concerns raised by the opposition, the legislators, Minister Bawankule gave a categorical assurance on the floor of the House that this has not been brought to benefit any builder; it is solely to give legal ownership rights to the 60 lakh families in the State who are living on small fragments of land.

Minister Bawankule said the Bill will directly benefit approximately 60 lakh families (nearly 3 crore citizens) living on small plots, gunthewari layouts and fragmented land holdings in cities and towns across the state.

Due to this bill, buying and selling of small plots will now become easier, and the way has been cleared for the respective owner’s name to be entered on the 7/12 land record (Satbara).

“For many years, citizens living in houses built on 5–10 gunthas or even smaller plots in urban and peripheral areas have been facing technical hurdles in getting ownership rights. Under the new bill, the fragments will be deemed to be regularised in the areas within the limits of urban areas and the peripheral areas where the residential, commercial, industrial or any other non-agricultural use is permissible areas without charging any premium as clearly stated in the bill,” said the minister.

Minister Bawankule said the key Highlights of the Bill include buying and selling of small, fragmented plots made easier, independent names of owners will appear on the 7/12 records of 60 lakh families, and it will not be applicable across all rural areas, but can be applied if a residential zone is declared.

During the discussion on the bill, Shiv Sena (UBT) legislator Bhaskar Jadhav said, “We are not supporting the bill for now because there is a possibility that the builder lobby will benefit more than the poor.”

Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar suggested, “Merely regularising plots without approved city development plans won’t suffice; there must also be provision for 9-meter roads and drainage systems.”

During the discussion, legislators Chandradeep Narke, Vikram Pachpute, and Ramesh Bornare demanded that this decision should not be limited only to urban areas but should also be made applicable to rural areas.

Members pointed out that in many places, including western Maharashtra, holding capacity is low, causing difficulties in buying and selling land.

“With the passage of this amendment, Maharashtra has taken a bold and compassionate step to regularise urban small-plot ownership created contrary to the provisions of Maharashtra Prevention of Fragmentation and Consolidation of Holdings Act and provide long-pending justice to millions of middle-class and lower-middle-class families,” observed the minister.

--IANS

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