Himachal government changed 51 year old law, gave equal rights to daughters in property

The Congress government of Himachal Pradesh has given equal rights to daughters in property by amending the 51-year-old law. Announcing this, Himachal Chief Minister Sukhwinder Sukhu on Tuesday said that an initiative to promote gender equality by amending the 51-year-old law, the Himachal Pradesh Ceiling on Land Holdings Act, 1972, would allow adult daughters (married and unmarried) to acquire land. It is a historic decision to provide equal rights to As per the amendment, the adult daughter will be allowed to have a separate independent unit of up to 150 bighas of land. The State Government has rectified the error by adding the word 'or daughter' after the word 'son' in sub-section 4 of section 4 of the existing Act.

The Bill includes the daughter as a separate independent entity at par with the son. Earlier, the Act allowed an adult son to retain an additional 150 bighas while depriving an adult son of the same rights as an adult daughter. As a result, families with daughters would have the same land rights as sons, totalling 300 bighas of land.

The bill, the Himachal Pradesh Ceiling on Land Holdings (Amendment) Act, 2023, which was introduced in the Assembly by Chief Minister Sukhu on March 29, and passed on April 3, aims to make the son and daughter of an individual owner an independent entity. Gender equality has to be ensured for both. The Bill paves the way for the removal of gender discrimination in accordance with the provisions of the 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 aims to provide relief to lakhs of families having daughters in Himachal Pradesh, as it will enable their daughters to get 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.

Himachal Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu further said, by making necessary amendments, the state government is providing assistance to lakhs of families having girl children. The amendment aims to ensure that families with daughters have equal rights in land ownership by removing the unconstitutional clause that promotes gender inequality.