Bengaluru, March 16 Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda told the Legislative Assembly on Monday that the government is facing a shortage of land, even for burial grounds, and is forced to purchase land for this purpose in some cases.
The minister said that minority communities are angry with the government for not providing sufficient space for cemeteries, as he highlighted the difficulties faced in allocating land for schools and playgrounds.
The minister was responding to a question by Aurad BJP MLA Prabhu Chavan during Question Hour.
"Over the last 10 years, all governments have tried to ensure that all villages have burial grounds based on their needs. Even the High Court has pursued this. However, we have not been able to provide space in some places," Gowda said.
He said that after providing all available land to farmers and for various other purposes, the government is now left with no land for burial grounds.
"For burial grounds, the government had to purchase land at a cost of Rs 58 crore in the last three years. By giving lands for various purposes, we have now reached a situation where we must purchase land for burials," he added.
Having given away lands for various purposes, the administration has to go around with a "begging bowl", asking for land, the minister further said.
Among Hindus, some bury and some burn the dead. In areas surrounding Bengaluru, those who used to bury have started to burn the dead because there is no space for burial.
"But, in the two minority communities (Muslims and Christians) there is no opportunity to burn the dead bodies. We have to give them land. They are now angry with us for not providing land. Nobody understands when we say there's no land. How long can we provide?" he said.
Gowda, however, asserted that the department would work towards reserving space for public amenities like schools and burial grounds.
"In villages, we must provide youngsters with playgrounds, parks, and schools," he added.
Earlier, intervening, Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka said that after giving away lands for various purposes all these years, the government has today reached a position where it has to "beg".
Stating that people are not ready to give even one acre for schools and hospitals, let alone burial grounds, he said that when he was revenue minister during the BJP government, he had asked district deputy commissioners to reserve space for schools, anganwadis and burial grounds before granting lands.
"This is important keeping the next generation and the next 25-30 years in mind," he said.