After pay hike, Jharkhand MLAs to get housing plots

All 82 MLAs, including the state’s 26 ministers, are to get 20 decimal of land each here. ‘‘We found that a big plot of around 52 acres of the government land was lying vacant at Garkhatanga,’’ Land Revenue Minister Madhu Singh, who had announced the plan in the state Assembly on March 8 last year, said.

This land was once owned by a former landlord. He sold it to a businessman, Mahavir Prasad Jalan, even though the government had acquired it under the Bihar Land Reforms Act, 1961 way back on December 24, 1975.

A part of this land is uneven and rocky. This is to be made even, divided into equal plots and transferred to MLAs either on ownership or lease basis. The land cost is estimated at Rs 3000 per decimal. But the ministers and MLAs will get it free of cost as per Singh’s proposal.

‘‘MLAs become paupers once their term ends. This land is bound to provide them a sense of security,’’ Singh said defending the land allocation plan for MLAs.

The move comes after the government hiked salary of the Chief Minister, Ministers, Leader of Opposition and MLAs, a second time since the state was formed in 2000.

Significantly, none of the 82 MLAs is landless. In fact, Chief Minister Babulal Marandi, Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari, Leader of Opposition Stephen Marandi and even Singh all come from prosperous backgrounds.

However, the state government couldn’t care less for the truly landless.