Kerala Chief Minister V. D. Satheesan on Tuesday guaranteed that the poor residents of Munambam will not be evicted under any circumstances, promising that a system to accept land taxes will be created quickly and that full ownership rights over the land will be secured for them.
The Chief Minister made this crucial announcement during a press conference at Kerala House in Delhi, amid escalating tensions surrounding the long-running Munambam land dispute.
The fresh political row erupted after the Waqf Board registered the land—which houses over 600 predominantly Christian and fisherman families—as Waqf property on the Central Government’s U MEED Portal, which is used for digital record-keeping of Waqf assets.
Around 610 families in Munambam coastal village, Ernakulam district, are protesting the Waqf Board’s claim on their land. The Munambam issue began in 2019 when the Waqf Board claimed the land stating it was Waqf land donated to Farook College in Kozhikode by Siddique Sait in 1950. In 2022, they were told that they cannot pay the land tax on their properties.
Alongside this assurance, the Chief Minister announced that a comprehensive development white paper detailing Kerala’s major dream projects will be officially released in the first week of June.