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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Local tribes protest changes in Jharkhand land laws -Alok Gupta

Local tribes protest changes in Jharkhand land laws -Alok Gupta

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published Published on Apr 5, 2017   modified Modified on Apr 5, 2017
-VillageSquare.in

Recent amendments to laws that govern the use of land owned by tribals in Jharkhand has led to a rash of protests because local communities feel that they might lose their land and livelihoods to industrial development

Last year in May, when the Jharkhand government announced to remove handcuffs from all the statues and pictures of Birsa Munda, the indigenous people of the state lauded the newly appointed first non-tribal chief minister Raghubar Das for his out-of-the-box gesture.

A few months later in November, when the state assembly amended the core of land tenancy law, the euphoria of a pro-tribal government took a beating. Protests and police firings replaced pro-government sentiments to the extent that a group of tribals also hurled shoes at Raghubar Das few weeks after the amendments.

Birsa Munda, Tilka Manjhi and many other tribal leaders had fought and laid down their lives for this very tribal land rights. Their rebellion forced the British colonial government to formulate tenancy laws to protect tribal lands and rights.

“This is not an amendment but a plan to grab the tribal land and sell it to corporates,” alleges Sanjay Basu Mullick of Jangal Bachao Andolan (save forest campaign), a non-profit activist organization. Connect the dots and a chain of events will reveal a conspiracy, he told VilageSquare.in, hinting at the state’s sponsored mega Momentum Jharkhand event organized in February last year to attract industrialists and investors to the state. “The state government repeatedly said in the event that they have a land bank,” he said.

Changes in law

The state government has amended three sections and abolished one sub-section of the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, while one section of Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act has been amended.

Section 21 bars tribal land uses other than agriculture, construction of pond, well and brick making. It has been amended empowering government to make rules for non-agriculture use of the agriculture land. For non-agriculture use of the land, a tax has to be paid that would be decided by the revenue officers.

Section 49 (1) has been amended to empower government to transfer tribal land for social welfare projects like hospital, schools, aganwadis (day care centers) and linear projects like pipelines, roads, etc.  The cost of the transferred land shall not be less than the compensation fixed under the federal Land Acquisition Act.

Transfer of land

Section 49 (2) has been added to ensure that transferred tribal land shall be used only for the purpose mentioned during the time of transfer of land. If there is any change in the purpose or nature of the project, the land should be returned to the landowner. It also sets a deadline of five years for completion of the project. If the project in not completed within five years then the land would be returned to its lawful owner and land compensation money won’t be returned.

Section 71 (A) sub-section (2) that deals with tribal land transfer after compensation has been abolished.  In Jharkhand there are around 64,000 cases pending under Schedule V. Schedule Area Regulation (SAR) courts have been set up the state to deal with such cases.

Sukhdeo Bhagat, a former bureaucrat, points out that tribals are seeking compensation in these 64,000 cases and by abolishing 71(A)(2) these claims are likely to null and void. “These tribal families will lose their land and also their right to justified compensation,” he told VillageSquare.in.

Please click here to read more.

VillageSquare.in, 3 April, 2017, http://www.villagesquare.in/2017/04/03/local-tribes-protest-changes-jharkhand-land-laws/


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