Rajya Sabha member Gopchade demands national policy on funeral land management

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The BJP Rajya Sabha member from Nanded, Ajeet Gopchade, has urged the Parliament to frame a national policy for the management of funeral land. Emphasising that rapid urbanisation had made land an extremely valuable resource, he stressed the need for transparent, long-term planning for cremation grounds and burial sites to prevent future conflicts related to land use and urban development."It should be made mandatory to conduct Geographic Information System (GIS)-mapping of all cremation grounds and cemeteries across India , enabling accurate and updated digital records of the land occupied by these sites. Wherever discrepancies arise between historical land records and the present ground reality, a thorough land audit should be carried out. The corrected records must be placed in the public domain to ensure transparency," Gopchade said.Drawing comparisons with international practices, Gopchade said countries facing land scarcity, such as Japan and several European nations, had adopted modern and eco-friendly approaches like vertical cemeteries and gas or electric crematoria. The custom of simple and minimalistic burials seen in some countries, he said, could also serve as a model worth promoting in India.He reiterated that the issue transcended religious or community boundaries and was fundamentally about conserving valuable resources for future generations. Given the pace of urban expansion and steady population growth in India, Gopchade said, "A national policy for managing cremation and burial land has become an urgent necessity."