Himachal amends 51-year-old law, provides equitable rights to daughters

The bill includes the daughter on a par with the son as a separate independent unit. Earlier, the Act allowed an adult son to have an additional 150 bighas while denying the same right to an daughter

The initiative towards promoting gender equality by carrying out amendment in a 51-year-old legislation, Himachal Pradesh Ceiling on Land Holdings Act of 1972, is a landmark decision for providing equitable rights in landholding to the adult daughter (married and unmarried), Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu said on Tuesday.

As per the amendment, an adult daughter will be permitted to have a separate independent unit up to 150 bighas of land. The state government has rectified the error by inserting the words, 'or daughter' after the word 'son' in sub-section 4 of section 4 of the existing Act.

The bill includes the daughter on a par with the son as a separate independent unit. Earlier, the Act allowed an adult son to have an additional 150 bighas while denying the same right to an adult daughter.

As a result, families with adult daughters will have the same land rights as those with adult sons, totalling up to 300 bighas of land.

The Bill, Himachal Pradesh Ceiling on Land Holdings (Amendment) Act, 2023, which was introduced in the assembly on March 29 by Chief Minister Sukhu, and passed on April 3 aims to ensure gender equality to both son and daughter when it comes to owning an independent unit.

The Bill paves the way to remove gender discrimination in line with the provisions of Indian Constitution.

The Chief Minister himself took a special interest in this regard and was keen to introduce the amendment bill in the current budget session of the state Assembly.

The amendment in the act is aimed to provide relief to lakhs of families in Himachal Pradesh having daughters, as it would enable their daughter to have an additional unit of 150 bighas of land.

The move has been widely welcomed by all sections of society as a positive step towards empowering women in the state.

"By making the necessary amendment, the state government is providing succour to lakhs of families having daughters. This amendment aims to ensure that families with daughters have equal rights in land ownership, removing the unconstitutional clause that promotes gender inequality," the Chief Minister said.

--IANS

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