Shimla, Aug. 22 -- With 20,000 cases of nautor pending, the revenue, horticulture and tribal development minister Jagat Singh Negi on Friday urged governor Kavinder Gupta to take an early decision on a long-pending demand concerning land allotment in the state's tribal areas.

Nautor in Himachal Pradesh refers to the grant of unoccupied or waste government land to eligible landless or small-scale local residents for agriculture, horticulture, or building purposes.

Addressing the media on Friday, Negi said the demand relates to the allotment of government and forest land to eligible residents of tribal areas under the nautor system. He said the process has been stalled because of restrictions under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, but...