Aparajita Sarangi Targets Odisha Govt Over Tribal Land Transfer Issue, Abrupt Adjournment Of Assembly

Bhubaneswar: Hitting out at Odisha’s BJD government over abrupt adjournment of the Assembly session in 4 days instead of originally scheduled 30 days, senior BJP leader and Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi on Monday said the move is intriguing.

The adjournment of the Assembly 26 days ahead of schedule reflects the deep-rooted fear of the BJD government to debate issues of concern to people of the state, she claimed.

Accusing the government of functioning in a surreptitious and suspicious way in the last 15 to 20 days, she said it suddenly brought before the Cabinet a proposal to amend the Odisha Scheduled Areas Transfer of Immovable Property (By Scheduled Tribes) Regulation, 1956 which is in force in the schedule areas of state.

This Regulation had been assented by the President of India in 1956 restricting transfer of tribal land to non-tribals and to ensure that simple, innocent tribals are not alienated from their land, the BJP leader said.

This proposal, as per claims of the BJD government was recommended by Tribes Advisory Council (TAC) in July 2023, she said. However, BJP MLA Nityanand Gond, a member of TAC, has claimed that no such proposal was even discussed in the TAC. The recent amendment approved by the Cabinet on November 14 sought to allow transfer of tribal land to non-tribals, she said.

On November 16, the Revenue Minister announced on a social media site that the Cabinet decision has been put on hold, the BJP leader said, adding that the state cabinet subsequently took a decision to withdraw the approval and to refer back the proposal to Tribes Advisory Committee.

Stating that the entire twist and turn of the event beg many questions, the parliamentarian said, “if the TAC had recommended it in July 2023, why was it hidden from the public domain? Why did the government choose not to have any public consultation on such a sensitive issue? “

Aparajita sought to know as to why did the government bring the proposal on the sly and get it approved by the Cabinet in a highly suspicious manner. “Who were the intended beneficiaries? Was it some non-Odia land grabbers with proven track record who were behind this decision? Or was it some corporate groups which have set their eyes on the resource rich tribal pockets of Odisha?,” she asked.

The BJP leader also sought to know whether the government can make public the audio and video recordings of the TAC to allay fears that the issue has been inserted without having been in the agenda and without any discussions in TAC.

Aparajita also wondered as to why the government announced the Cabinet decision while such substantive amendments require the approval of the President of India.

The decision to abruptly close the Assembly within 4 days of functioning, that too without any consultation with the opposition Party leaders, clearly indicates the government’s fear of facing some inconvenient truths.

The recent move to allow the transfer of the tribal land to non-tribals in the scheduled areas was clearly with a malicious intent to allow non-Odia land grabbers an entry into tribal pockets of Odisha, the BJP MP said, adding that the state government was very uncomfortable in answering on the surreptitious amendment in view of the largescale resentment among the tribals.

Claiming that the government had to answer a lot in view of the flurry of agitations by different o functionaries, she said to avoid a discussion on these topics, the BJD tried the escape route through such abrupt closure of Assembly.