Centre begins survey of enemy properties
The Centre has launched a National Survey of Enemy Properties, spread across 20 states and three Union territories, with a purpose to identify and subsequently monetise all such properties left by people who took Pakistani or Chinese citizenship after wars with these countries, people familiar with the development said on Saturday.
The first-of-its-kind national survey by the Directorate General of Defence Estates (DGDE) involves assessing the present condition and value of more than 12,000 properties already identified by the Office of Custodian of Enemy Property for India (CEPI), an authority under the ministry of home affairs (MHA).
“The national survey started with properties in Uttar Pradesh, wherein a majority of such properties are situated,” said an official, who didn’t want to be named.
The government formed a Group of Ministers (GOM), headed by Union home minister Amit Shah, in 2020 to supervise monetisation of enemy properties left behind by people who went to Pakistan and China.
There are at least 12,611 assets, or enemy property, across 20 states and 3 UTS, of which 12,485 are related to Pakistani nationals and 126 belong to Chinese citizens. Most such properties are located in Uttar Pradesh, followed by West Bengal and Delhi.
Union defence minister Rajnath
Singh, in December 2022, had said the DGDE will begin the process of the first such survey outside of the ministry of defence. It was the MHA that had requested DGDE, which normally does land management and development of cantonment areas for the defence forces, to conduct a survey on enemy property, said a second official, who also wished not to be named.
“The government is expecting to generate ₹1 lakh crore by monetising the enemy properties,” said the first official.
In fact, the CEPI has disposed of enemy properties worth ₹3,407 crore, including 75,283,287 shares (for ₹2,708.9 crore) of 152 companies in 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22, and ₹699.08 crore as revenue receipts, according to the MHA’S annual report for 2021-22.
Besides, gold and silver worth ₹60 lakh listed as enemy property has been disposed of in January 2021 through the Government of India mint in Mumbai.
Officials said complaints are also received from time to time related to encroachment or false claims over these properties, due to which it is important to fasttrack the process of monetising them. In June last year, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered four cases against 53 people, including several state government officials for allegedly leasing prime enemy properties illegally across Uttar Pradesh.