J'khand Oppn parties urge Prez not to give nod to tribal land

A delegation led by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress, Jharkhand Vikas Manch (JVM) and other opposition parties today met President Pranab Mukherjee and urged him not to give assent to two contentious bills on acquisition of tribal land, which were passed in the Assembly.
Last month, the Jharkhand Assembly had approved amendments to the 108-year-old Chotanagpur Tenancy Act (CNT) and Santhal Pargana Tenancy (SPT) Act.
The delegation, comprising JMM chief and Lok Sabha MP Shibu Soren, his son and ex-chief minister Hemant Soren, former Union Minister Subodh Kant Sahay, MLAs and MPs of other political parties, told the President the bills, seeking the amendments, were passed in the Assembly without discussion.

The Raghubar Das-led government says the amendments will allow acquisition of tribal land, while keeping the landholders' ownership intact, for building infrastructure such as roads, hospitals and educational institutions.
"The bills give unbridled power to the state government to declare agriculture land to non-agriculture. These Bills are also against people's wishes as it dilutes the legislation that has given protection to the tribals," the memorandum, submitted to the President, said.
Shibu Soren said any dilution of the two legislations will spell doom on poor tribal people in Jharkhand.

"Seven people have lost their lives in police firing over the last one-and-a-half month. Jharkhand is known to be a Naxal insurgency prone state. If tribals feels alienated and robbed then this anger will become more violent," Sahay said and alleged these bills were brought only to acquire tribal land for industrialists.

"We have requested the President not to give assent to these bills. We also acquainted him on the ways used by the BJP government in the state to pass bills.
"(Through these bills), the Chief Minister wants to convert all farmers to businessmen," Hemant Soren alleged, adding the situation in the state is deteriorating.
He said amendments were made to these two legislations in the past, but no one tinkered with the character of the land.
However, through these bills, one single notification can change the character of the land from agriculture to non-agriculture without seeking permission from the Assembly, Hemant Soren alleged.

"Even the Tribal Advisory Council had opposed the amendments proposed in these Bills," he claimed.