The government has taken initiatives to examine the necessity of announcing the abandoned properties as khas properties (government-owned lands) 43 years after the independence of the country.
A seven-member committee headed by the Director General 1 of the Prime Minister’s Office was formed on September 11 to make recommendations to the government in this regard.
The committee was tasked with identifying and estimating the exact amount of abandoned properties in the country that comply with the Bangladesh Abandoned Property (Control, Management and Disposal) Order 1972.
Other members of the committee include joint secretary-level representatives from Land, Commerce, and Housing and Public Works Ministries, legislative and parliamentary affairs division, and representatives from the offices of the attorney general and the deputy commissioner of Dhaka.
The committee was given six weeks to submit its report to the PMO.
The gazette notification issued by the PMO read: “The committee will examine the necessity of announcing abandoned properties as khas lands and make suggestions about the process of making the announcement, if necessary.”
According to Land Ministry officials, the government has details of the vested properties in the country but there has been no estimation of abandoned properties in the 43 years of independence.
Most of the abandoned properties were occupied by influential people involved in politics or holding administrative positions, making it really hard for the government to recover those from them, said the officials, adding that the latest move came in the wake of that.
According to the Abandoned Property (Control, Management and Disposal) Order 1972, an abandoned property means any property owned by any individual who does not stay in Bangladesh, or whose whereabouts are unknown, or who is no longer occupying, supervising or managing the property personally, including any person who was engaged in military operations against the country during the 1971 War of Independence.
A property in possession or under control of the government under any law for the time being in force will also be considered an abandoned property.
