By Express News Service
DEHRADUN: Women rights activists have hailed the Uttarakhand government which has passed an ordinance to give land ownership rights to daughters and wives of male landowners by amending the Uttarakhand Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act ahead of the budget session of the Assembly.
Under the ordinance, the daughters will have ownership rights on the land owned by their father. Similarly, a wife will also be the joint owner of the land of her husband.
According to the Election Commission, Uttarakhand has 37.40 lakh women voters out of a total of 78.15 lakh. The ordinance has been brought keeping in mind a large-scale migration of male members in search of work.
Divya Rawat, a Nari Shakti Award recipient from the President, said: “The move will end the gender-based discrimination in the property rights. Women are equal contributors to their family, society, country and the world.”
Through this ordinance, the government aims to provide economic independence to women who are working in fields owned by their husbands or fathers especially in the hilly areas of the state.
So far in Uttarakhand, the land ownership rights are transferred to men in the family which are then passed on to their sons.
Tanuja Joshi, an activis, said: “A lot needs to be done to empower women of the state and the country. I applaud the lawmakers for bringing the amendment.”
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