Bhoodan land meant for SCs,STs illegally occupied by politicians,Bihar survey finds

In its report to the Revenue and Land Reform Department,the Bihar Bhoodan Yagya Committee had said its survey had found illegal possession of Bhoodan land in Aurangabad,Jehanabad,Gaya,East Champaran,West Champaran and six other districts of the state. Kisanganj was the first to have a survey ordered by the subdivisional magistrates of its Thakurganj and Pothia blocks based on the committee’s report.

Azad and Singh deny owning any Bhoodan land,saying the government is free to check. Kumar,brother-in-law of JD(U) Ara MP Mina Singh,calls the “finding” baseless and part of a political vendetta.

Bhoodan Yagya Committee chairperson Kumar Shubhmurti confirmed the names of the three figured in his report. “The Kisanganj district administration has corroborated our list of 52 illegal occupants of Bhoodan land. As the survey progresses in other districts,many names will come out,” he adds.

Over the past 25 years,112 SC/ST members were expected to have received the Bhoodan land in the two Kisanganj blocks of Thakurganj and Pothia. The Kisanganj report says that instead,some of the land has been under illegal occupation for 10-20 years and that some occupants have been growing crops on it while others have started brick kilns.

Kisanganj district magistrate Sandip Kumar confirmed the interim report had found 52 people illegally possessing over 800 acres of Bhoodan land in the two blocks. He said they were conducting a second survey to confirm this,and would send notices within two months based on it. Asked if some politicians figure in the list,the DM said: “As of now,it will not be fair on my part to reveal names.”

Bihar Revenue and Land Reform Department Principal Secretary C Ashokvardhan said the state government had got a “detailed report” on the status of the Bhoodan land,and the districts concerned had been asked to act upon it.

Asked about the district administration’s report,Congress Kisangaj MLA Javed Azad said: “I belong to a farmers’ family at Pothia and have agricultural land. I am not aware if I have illegally occupied any Bhoodan land. Government officials are free to check. But I doubt if they will find any illegal land.” Azad’s family has land plots at Pothia adjacent to a tract of Bhoodan land.

Former BJP MLA Sikander Singh claimed his family had returned 5 acres of Bhoodan land to the government two years ago. “I have seen government amins (who measure land) moving around with land documents. Let them search for any illegal land on our plots,” he said.

Former Congress legislator Ajay Kumar,who owns 300 acres at Pothia,said: “I have no knowledge of my name being in any interim report. There is no way they can prove any part of my land as Bhoodan land as I have the title deed I have not got it from any Bhoodan allottees,either through lease or transfer.”