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Business Standard
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
Odisha Govt. plans to purchase land from needy tribals and dalits
To prevent non-tribals and non-dalits from grabbing land of STs and SCs, the Odisha government is planning to directly purchase land from needy people for which a corpus fund will be created, Revenue and Disaster Management minister Suresh Pujari said. Though there has been no such policy so far, Pujari on Thursday said. He that it is in the planning stage and to be implemented only after proper consultations with all the stakeholders including the people belonging to the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). The minister said that though there is a ban on non-tribals or non-dalits purchasing land from adivasis and SCs, it is noticed that they acquire land by different means. According to the provisions of the Odisha Land Reforms (OLR) Act, 1960, land belonging to STs and SCs cannot be purchased by non-tribals and non-SCs without the approval of the sub-collector. The minister said that it is found that the needy tribals and dalits sell their lands to non-tribals for emergencies like health treatment, daughter's marriage or studies of children. However, efforts are being made to provide alternative means to the needy people and not to go for selling their land. Now that all poor people are getting free of cost health services, this requirement is no more valid. The children or STs and SCs also get financial assistance from the government and the state government will soon launch 'Mukshya Mantri Kanya Vivah Yojana' for the marriage of poor family daughters, the minister said. The minister said Revenue department officials are asked to examine whether applications for selling land are genuine. "As per our information, only 10-15 per cent are genuine applications while in remaining cases, the applications are filed after being influenced or lured by others. This should be stopped," Pujari said. "There is an effort to ensure that tribals and dalits retain their land. However, if they still want money for any reason, the government plans to buy and keep the land protected for two-three years. If during that time, they want to buy back the land, they can do so at the same price," Pujari said. In case the seller is not in a position to take back the land they sold to the government within the grace period, the same will be auctioned among the people in their communities, the minister said. Earlier in 2023, the then BJD government had approved a plan to amend the law allowing tribals to sell their lands to non-tribals under certain circumstances. However, it could not be acted upon because of the strong protest across the state.
Indian Express
22-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
To ‘protect' state's Dalit and tribal land, Odisha govt proposes direct purchase in scheduled areas
The Odisha government has proposed directly purchasing land from the tribals and Dalits in the scheduled areas of the state — a move that it claims will protect such land from being grabbed by influential people. Odisha Revenue Minister Suresh Pujari, who made the announcement, said the state government had constituted a committee to suggest measures for this. The revenue secretary will head the committee, which will have representatives from other departments as well as experts, he said. Pujari told reporters that according to the provisions of the Odisha Land Reforms (OLR) Act, land that belonged to the Scheduled Caste (SC) and the Scheduled Tribe (ST) cannot be purchased by non-tribals and non-SCs without the approval of the sub-collector. Meanwhile, people categorised as SC and ST can sell their land to non-tribals under certain conditions – including a daughter's marriage, healthcare and their children's higher education. 'It has been noticed in many cases that the influential individuals are trying to grab lands of tribals and SC people by luring and threatening them. The sub-collectors' offices across Odisha have been receiving applications seeking approval to sell the lands to non-tribals and non-SCs under OLR Act,' said the minister. Pujari said instructions have been issued to all collectors to examine whether these applications are genuine. 'According to our report, only 10-15 per cent are genuine applications while in remaining cases, the applications are filed after being influenced or lured by others. We are trying to stop it,' the minister said. To implement the plan, the state government has proposed a corpus so that the tribals and Dalits who want to mortgage or sell their land due to financial constraints can do so directly to the government. 'The government can protect the land for certain years and can also return the land, if he/she wants to reclaim the land by repaying the amount,' he said. While the government has yet to draw up a plan on how to implement this, sources in the revenue department said the government will hold consultations with Dalit and tribal outfits and political parties. 'To finalise the Standard Operating Procedure to implement the proposal, we will examine its legal complexities, whether we need to amend the laws that prevent alienation of tribal land in scheduled areas, if any other states have adopted such practices. We will also take the opinion of the law department about the feasibility of the proposal,' said a revenue department official. In November 2023, the previous Biju Janata Dal government under Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had approved a plan to amend the law allowing the tribals to sell their lands to the non-tribals under certain circumstances. However, the plan was shelved following widespread protests.
