Bengaluru: Revenue Minister Kagodu Thimmappa said the State government has decided to amend the Inams Abolition Act in order to allow over three lakh people to claim occupancy rights.

“More than three lakh people in Karnataka, especially in Uttara Kannada, Dharwad and Belagavi districts, have not filed applications seeking occupancy rights under the Inams Abolition Act. To provide them an opportunity to claim occupancy rights, the government has decided to amend the Inams Abolition Act,” he told reporters in Bengaluru.

The amendment will be tabled in the coming legislature session to facilitate the beneficiaries. “The amendment would ensure effective implementation of the provisions of the Act,’’ he said.

Expressing regret at the fact that elected representatives over the years had failed to take the benefits of the Land Reforms Act and Inam Abolition Act to the poor and the landless, he said: “Vested interests who favoured landlords got me defeated in the polls earlier for having fought for the implementation of the Land Reforms Act, in letter and spirit. But I don’t have any qualms. I stood for what I believed all my life,” he said.

Meanwhile, the State government has extended the deadline for regularisation of houses constructed on government land till February 26. Considering that the revenue authorities have not followed the government direction on Akrama–Sakrama in letter and spirit, it was decided that the deadline should be extended.