A decade later, and in time for polls, Nitish ‘revives' land allotment scheme
Over a decade after it conducted a survey to allot lands to landless families across the state, the Bihar government has 'revived' its Abhiyan Basera Scheme ahead of the Assembly polls.
According to sources, the new survey – christened Abhiyan Basera-II – is likely to benefit 1.3 lakh families that the government had previously surveyed in 2014 as a part of Abhiyan Basera-I. 'The state government aims to complete the process before the elections and beneficiaries can build houses on the land under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) or any other scheme of the state government,' a source said.
The Nitish Kumar's push for completion of land allotment is part of the NDA's bid to reach out to larger constituencies of OBCs, EBCs, SCs and STs, which collectively make up 85% of the state's population. A source said that 70% of prospective beneficiaries hail from EBC and SC communities. JD(U) chief spokesperson and MLC Neeraj Kumar said it is in line with Nitish's 'commitment towards the poor'.
A source admitted that all efforts were being made to the meet the polls timeline. 'About 36,000 families had been found ineligible for allotment. The government wants to cross-check this data to ensure that the allotment process is completed before the Model Code of Conduct kicks in,' the source said.
Under the first phase, a total of 1.3 lakh families were surveyed, of which 93,000 were allotted five decimals of land (2,178 square feet) each.
Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue and Land Reforms Department, Deepak Kumar Singh flagged the issue in a May 30 order. 'We want a dedicated team to cross-check the surveyed families and submit block-wise data. It is important for concerned revenue officers to fill the 'reverify or reject' applicant form on the government app,' the order, issued to district magistrates of all 38 districts, stated.
The RJD dismissed the survey as 'nothing but pre-poll doles'. 'Why did the state government not do this two-three years ago? The scheme has been timed to ensure electoral gains for the NDA,' RJD spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwari said.
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