{"id":221377,"date":"2023-01-06T19:25:12","date_gmt":"2023-01-06T13:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=221377"},"modified":"2023-01-06T19:25:12","modified_gmt":"2023-01-06T13:55:12","slug":"the-state-blurs-the-distinction-between-legal-and-illegal-and-punishes-the-poor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/the-state-blurs-the-distinction-between-legal-and-illegal-and-punishes-the-poor\/","title":{"rendered":"The State blurs the distinction between legal and illegal \u2014 and punishes the poor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source<\/strong>– The post is based on the article \u201cThe State blurs the distinction between legal and illegal \u2014 and punishes the poor\u201d <\/strong>published in The Indian Express <\/strong>on 6th January 2023<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Syllabus: <\/strong>GS1- Urbanisation<\/p>\n

Relevance<\/strong>– Issues related to land in urban areas<\/p>\n

News<\/strong>– The article explains the issues of illegal encroachment in urban areas.<\/p>\n

Why is illegal encroachment of land prevalent in India?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Encroachment<\/strong> on land belonging to government authorities is a big issue. This is despite the strictures of the master plan<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In our cities, land zoned for agricultural purposes has been converted to farmhouses. These areas eventually transform from being \u201cunauthorised\u201d to \u201cauthorised\u201d<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In case of greenfield developments<\/strong>, land politics takes place. Complex financial and administrative arrangements<\/strong> are utilised by both private and government agents for illegal acts upon the land.<\/p>\n

Village lands acquired by the state\u00a0 are frequently taken over by well-off citizens and private developers who build private property across them. The land taken over by private companies and individuals eventually converts to legal estate<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Poor migrants to the city also occupy spaces in ad hoc ways<\/strong>. This requires dealing with the state, land mafias, corrupt bureaucracies and the original landowners who sell their lands for \u201cillegal\u201d occupation. It produces a fragile urban environment<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

What are the challenges related to illegal encroachment of land?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The government action on illegal occupation depends on who occupies this land. It leads to dislocation of people<\/strong>. It institutionalised the illegality<\/strong> that is nurtured by the state.<\/p>\n

The strategy of dealing with encroachments through demolitions and evictions<\/strong> mainly affect the poor. It damages already vulnerable lives while also failing as public policy<\/strong>.\u00a0 It offers no long-lasting solution <\/strong>to the problems of making better cities in any way.<\/p>\n

It diminishes public welfare <\/strong>by depriving populations of educational, financial, and residential security<\/strong> without any meaningful positive outcomes. It cannot offer any solutions to real-world problems like housing, or public infrastructure.<\/p>\n

What is the way forward to the problem of encroachment?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

There is a need for holistic urban planning<\/strong> that is not fractured. Multiple authorities should not be allowed free play over lands owned by them. This requires thinking of the city as an organism with complex social needs<\/strong>, rather than merely an economic entity.<\/p>\n

Courts should recognise their role as protectors <\/strong>of citizens from the arbitrariness of state action<\/strong>. Cities need to develop a sense of compassion<\/strong> for urban life at its margins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source– The post is based on the article \u201cThe State blurs the distinction between legal and illegal \u2014 and punishes the poor\u201d published in The Indian Express on 6th January 2023. Syllabus: GS1- Urbanisation Relevance– Issues related to land in urban areas News– The article explains the issues of illegal encroachment in urban areas. Why… Continue reading The State blurs the distinction between legal and illegal \u2014 and punishes the poor<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[263,10500],"class_list":["post-221377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-gs-paper-1","tag-indian-express","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221377\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}