Thousands of state institutions are without land deeds – Gayantha

Nearly 12,000 government institutes, including schools, have submitted applications requesting for land deeds confirming ownership of the lands where they are situated at, says the Minister of Lands and Parliamentary Reforms Gayantha Karunathilake.

These institutions do not possess land deeds for the lands in which they are located, he said.

He stated this at an awareness programme held in Gankanda Central College in Pelmadulla, regarding the grant of deeds to the lands belonging to the Lands Reform Commission.

Several such awareness programs were recently held in Pelmadulla electoral division in Ratnapura district.

Simultaneously, the divisional secretaries and government officials were also educated of the state lands and deeds in programs held at Ratnapura Divisional Secretariat and Kalutara District Secretariat.

The Minister stated that the Ministry does not have any legal provisions to provide the lands of Land Reform Commission to the public for free. Hence, the low-income limit will be increased to Rs 25,000 from Rs 5,000 so that a large number of individuals will be able to own a land for a much lower price.

Retired government employees, disabled war veterans and all the government employees receiving an income less than Rs 25,000 are considered as low-income persons. 

This program will be carried out concurrent to the concept of granting one million of deeds of state lands. 

The Minister also requested the printed and digital media to give more coverage to news regarding developmental programs of this sort.

Several government officials including the Deputy Minister of Lands and Parliamentary Reforms Dunesh Gankanda and the Minister of Justice Thalatha Athukorala attended this event.