Noisy Scenes Over Tribal Land Transfer Issue Continue, Odisha Assembly Adjourned Till 4PM

Bhubaneswar: Uproarious scenes prevailed in the Odisha Assembly for the second consecutive day on Thursday with Opposition BJP and Congress members strongly opposing the state government’s contentious decision to allow the transfer of tribal land to non-tribals.

As soon as the members assembled for the day, BJP legislators trooped into the well of the House and shouted slogans demanding immediate withdrawal of the decision.

Amid pandemonium, Speaker Pramila Mallik adjourned the House till 4 pm.

Opposition Whip and BJP MLA Mohan Majhi said that the Speaker again rejected their request to allow a motion to discuss the issue suspending other businesses of the House. “The Cabinet should withdraw the land transfer rule. The BJP will continue to corner the government till the decision is not revoked,” he told reporters outside the House.

It may be noted here that the State Cabinet had recently approved amendments to some provisions of Regulation-2 of Odisha Scheduled Areas Transfer of Immovable Property Amendment Regulation to facilitate mortgaging of tribal land in banking institutions and transferring the same to non-tribals for various purposes. The government, however, later decided to put the decision on hold after it sparked a debate.

While terming the stalling of the House proceedings by BJP and Congress MLAs as cheap politics, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Sudam Marndi had said: “The matter has not matured at the level of the government and has not become property of the assembly (to deliberate). The chief minister has kept the decision on hold.”

Earlier speaking to the media in Baripada, the Minister had contended that only the President of India has the authority to take any decision on the Orissa Scheduled Areas Transfer of Immovable Property (by Scheduled Tribes) Regulation, 1956, not the Cabinet.

Noisy scenes over the issue had led the Speaker to adjourn the House on Wednesday, which also saw the government tabling the Odisha Land Reforms (Second Amendment) Bill, 2023, proposing to confer raiyati rights on sub-tenants, under tenants or successor in interests who are in possession of land recorded as Sikkim. While those in possession of homestead land recorded as Sikkim in RoR will have to apply to the revenue officer within two years of the commencement of the Act to avail the benefits, the compensation amount for standard acre to be paid to the land owners for raiyati rights has been fixed at Rs 14,200 per acre.

The government may extend the time limit for declaration of raiyati rights over such homestead and agricultural land, it added.