Valued at Rs 8,000 crore, half of Bettiah Raj land encroached upon in Bihar

With farmers paying an annual sum to till the land, the Bihar government, which has been controlling the estate since the death of the second widow of the last zamindar, makes around Rs 2.5 crore from bandobasti (the administrative and revenue collection system) of the land. The estate is currently managed by an additional district magistrate-level officer and two clerks.

Bettiah Raj originated in the Champaran region and traces its descent from Ujjain Singh and his son, Gaj Singh, who had received the title of Raja from Emperor Shah Jahan in the 17th century. The last raja of Bettiah Raj, Harendra Kishore Singh, died in 1893 without an heir and the estate passed to his first wife, who died in 1896. It was then held by his second wife, Maharani Janki Kuar, but came under the management of a Court of Wards.

Since the Court of Wards took over the estate in 1897, it could not be sold or transferred to anyone. Upon Maharani Janki Kuar’s death in 1954, the Bihar government took control of the estate.

Recently, the Bihar government provided a breakup of the land that was held by Bettiah Raj. Of the 15,215 acres under the estate in Bihar, 9,758 acres is in West Champaran, and 5,320 acres is in East Champaran.

Government sources estimate that around 50 per cent of this land has been encroached upon. According to officials, ever since the Revenue Council got a new chairman earlier this year, the department has initiated an anti-encroachment drive in the erstwhile zamindari land.

Anil Kumar Sinha, the manager in charge of the Bettiah Raj estate, told The Indian Express: “After K K Pathak took over as head of the Revenue Council, there has been a concerted effort to free Bettiah Raj land from encroachment. As land survey has been underway in Bihar, he has assigned district magistrates and circle officers to identify Bettiah Raj land and free it from encroachment.”

“Circle officers will go by land papers. If any bandobasti and sale is done after April 1, 1897, it is illegal possession. The land survey will settle the long pending issue once and for all,” Sinha said.