Dy CM to officials: Give alternative accommodation before evicting poor people

There were instructions that if any poor person was living on gram sabha land, then unlike a mafia who would be forced out of the land illegally occupied, he would be treated with sympathy. The poor would be provided alternative accommodation before the encroachments were cleared, Maurya said.

LUCKNOW: Two days after a mother-daughter duo was charred to death inside their thatched hut during an anti-encroachment drive, deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya warned the officials against troubling poor, who might be living illegally due to lack of resources.

He also targeted the opposition leaders, including Congress’ Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, for doing “politics” on the incident in which a woman and her daughter were charred to death inside their thatched hut during an anti-encroachment drive in Kanpur Dehat. (Pic for representation)

He also targeted the opposition leaders, including Congress’ Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, for doing “politics” on the sensitive issue and described it as a sign of “rajnaitik diwaliyapan (political bankruptcy).”

“Stern action will be initiated against the guilty. It belies imagination how such a shocking thing happened despite clear cut instructions from the government to ensure that any poor living on gram sabha land, sans any proper documents, should be moved out only after providing him alternative accommodation,” Maurya said.

“Our government holds a clear view on the issue. We follow the principle of ‘gareeb ko chhedo mat, mafia ko chhoro mat (don’t trouble the poor, don’t let the mafia get away)’. The instructions are that if any poor person is living on gram sabha land, then unlike a mafia who would be forced out of the land illegally occupied, he would be treated with sympathy. The poor will be provided alternative accommodation before the encroachments are cleared,” Maurya said.

“While the incident has pained us all, what I fail to understand is how come leaders like Rahul Gandhi ji or Akhilesh Yadav ji could think of doing politics on the issue. It appears to me that they are politically bankrupt,” he asked.

UP BJP chief Bhupendra Chaudhary said: “Our heart goes out to the bereaved family. The manner in which the deaths happened is most shocking. The guilty would be handed an exemplary punishment.”

UP BJP spokesman Navin Srivastava said, “There are orders from chief minister Yogi Adityanath and the deputy CM has warned officials against flouting the government line. Inquiry is underway against those responsible for the Kanpur Dehat shocker and that they would be handed out an exemplary punishment.”