J'khand Oppn demands commission on land acquisition issues

The Opposition in the Jharkhand Assembly today demanded setting up of a commission to look into issues pertaining to land acquisition, particularly those protected under the Santhal Parganas Tenancy Act (SPT) and the Chota Nagpur Tenancy Act (CNT).
"Let the government announce a commission to resolve all land-related issues," Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) Legislature Party leader Pradip Yadav said.
Debating over his Cut Motion on the Budget allocations for Revenue, Land Reforms, Art, Culture, Sport and Youth Affairs departments, Yadav sought to know from the state government about the "result" of the special investigation team (SIT) it had instituted a year back to look into land deals in violation of SPT and CNT.

"The government had set up a SIT a year ago to look into violation of SPT and CNT. What is the result? Was it set up to intimidate anybody?" Yadav asked while drawing the attention of the House on sale of land in Godda, Sahibganj and Dumka districts of the Santhal Pargana region to a private industrialist.
Claiming that a couple of amendments in land acquisition rules had drastically reduced the compensation amount in the three districts, Yadav wondered how the poor land holders were "losing" land, despite 90 per cent of land being protected under CNT/SPT Acts.
"Let industrialists come, but with adequate compensation to the people as they suffer from industrial pollution and displacement," Yadav said.

Participating in the debate, Leader of Opposition

Hemant Soren asked how the government took a decision on coal mining by a private company in Godda.
Expressing concern over acquisition of land in the Santhal Pargana, Soren said the people who lost land could not purchase it under the SPT Act in the districts of the region.
"It is a conspiracy to displace tribals/moolvasis (natives), despite pledging to protect the tribals under the Constitution," Soren argued.
Citing example as to how the tribal labour force increased following acquisition of farm land, he demanded immediate stopping of land acquisition and suggested acquiring land on lease for 30 years and a review thereafter.

Soren also demanded a policy on land acquisition.
Congress MLA Sukhdeo Singh said the government's introduction of the Single Window System was good for the industrialists, but what about the poor "without a land policy."
He also alleged that the R&R policy of the government was not clear.
Claiming that 9.8 lakh acres of land under the Bhoodan movement of Vinoba Bhave still remained undistributed in the state, CPI(ML-Liberation) MLA Raj Kumar Yadav said if the government wanted to contain Maoist activities, it should initiate distribution of those land to the landless.
The minister could not touch upon the issues raised by the Opposition as his reply was cut short midway due to the Opposition's objections to the nomenclature of a sports club.