In an important step towards justice for refugees who came from East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, the Uttar Pradesh government is about to grant land ownership rights to 2,196 families living in 25 villages of Pilibhit district.

This long-pending demand of the families is now close to being fulfilled after a recent directive from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The chief minister has already given instructions to the relevant departments, and only the formal steps remain to be completed. After waiting for 62 years, these families are finally going to receive legal rights over the land they have been living on and farming.

Pilibhit District Magistrate Gyanendra Singh said in a statement to the media on Wednesday that once the final guidelines are received, the administration will begin the process without any delay.

Pilibhit's in-charge minister, Baldev Singh Aulakh, thanked the chief minister for this move.

BJP district president Sanjeev Pratap Singh, zila panchayat member Manjeet Singh and other local leaders said the decision is a long-awaited recognition of the struggles and sacrifices made by the refugees.

These families were given land for housing and farming by the government in 1960, but they were never granted official ownership. Because of the lack of legal documents, they were also left out of many government welfare schemes.

This decision was taken recently during a meeting chaired by the chief minister. The refugee families whose documents have been verified will soon receive their official land ownership papers.

According to official data, out of the 2,196 families living in 25 villages in Pilibhit, the verification reports of 1,466 applicants have already been sent to the state government.

These families living in more than 25 villages in the Kalinagar and Puranpur tehsils will benefit from the move. The main villages include Tatarganj, Bamanpur, Baila, Siddh Nagar, Shastri Nagar and Nehru Nagar.