Land allotted to Ramdeo causes furore in MP

Land allotment for a Rs 1,000-crore project of the Baba Ramdeo-promoted Patanjali Yoga Trust has created a furore in the state.

Although Revenue Minister Kamal Patel has denied allegations of government bias in the land allotment, the allotment to the Hardwar-based trust was debated in the state Assembly during a calling attention motion.

Yoga guru Ramdeo had asked for 1,000 acres earlier this year to set up a yoga university and a centre for clinical control trials based on herbal medicinal plants. The project will attract Rs 1,000 crore investment in the state in a phased manner.

The minister said there were no objections raised by villagers against the allotment in Sarda, Hargarh, Darauli Khurda and Ghughra villages.

"A total area of 262.58 hectares has been allotted in these villages while another 43.43 hectares has been allotted in Lamheta Ghat village. No villager has registered any protest," he said. He also said villagers had plenty of land for livelihood even after the said land allotment.

However members of the Legislative Assembly, namely Nishith Patel, Sajjan Singh Verma and Saroj Bachchan Naik, raised the issue in the assembly and alleged that residents of these villages belonged to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and earned their livelihood by collecting minor forest produce.

The said land allotment, a statement issued by the members said, had been done by ignoring the objections and interests of poor people.

However a public interest litigation (number 2556/07) with regard to land allotment in Lamheta Ghat village is pending with the Jabalpur High Court.

Jabalpur, named after the Hindu Saint Jabali, is rich in medicinal plants and some ayurvedic drug manufacturing companies source raw material from here. Both the areas are tribal-dominated and contain rare herbs, and medicinal plants, which have been used by the local tribal people for centuries.