Amidst the threat of National Register of Citizens (NRC) to be rolled out across the country as announced by Union home minister Amit Shah, chief minister Mamata Banerjee, today decided to regularise refugee colonies on private or Central land. The state will also give them “land rights.”

“Earlier, we had already regularised 94 refugee colonies having 13,353 families who have been living for 48 years. Today, in the cabinet meeting we have decided to regularise 11,986 refugee families, living for years on land measuring 3 acres or less than 3 acres of govt land . They have been given land rights, too. We will undertake a survey of people living on land above three acres and then decide our next of course action on regularisation. They have no place to go. They have become our citizens,” Banerjee said.

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The state government will bring a Bill in the Assembly for the purpose. “There are several refugee colonies on private and Centre’s land. We have been asking them to regularise these refugee colonies and provide them with land right. However, they have been sending eviction notices,” Banerjee said. The Opposition parties, however, said the state move was nothing but a ploy to insulate her core vote bank from being eaten away by the threat of rolling out of the NRC in the state.