Three days after Naveen Patnaik Cabinet gave the nod to amend Regulation-2 of Odisha Scheduled Areas Transfer of Immovable Property Amendment Regulation allowing tribals in Scheduled areas to sell and mortgage their land to non-tribals, the state government decided to withhold its decision.
Taking to social media site X, state revenue minister Sudam Marndi on Friday said the government has put a hold on the amendment recently passed in the Cabinet meeting. “The proposed Amendment to Regulation-2 of 1956 discussed in the Cabinet meeting held on 14th November 2023, regarding the transfer of Tribal lands, has been withheld,” Marndi wrote.
On November 14, the State cabinet had approved amendments to some provisions of Regulation-2 of Odisha Scheduled Areas Transfer of Immovable Property Amendment Regulation to facilitate the transfer and mortgage of land belonging to scheduled tribes (ST).
The amendments, as recommended by the Scheduled Tribe Advisory Council, allowed a tribal in Schedule-5 areas to sell or mortgage his land to a non-tribal with the written permission of the Sub Collector. If the sub-collector does not grant permission, then the person can appeal to the collector within six months and the decision will be final.
However, soon after the Cabinet decision, opposition BJP and Congress started criticising it saying the move would lead to tribals losing their land, their last source of sustenance. “While the Special Development Council(SDC) for tribals was formed by the government in 2017, it has not done anything significant for them. The move would only end up tribals losing their lands to unscrupulous people in tribal areas. The tribals have already lost their land through different processes, including informal mortgaging and sale of land through illegal means. After they sell off their land, what would they do,” asked BJP MLA Nityanand Gond.
{{/usCountry}}However, soon after the Cabinet decision, opposition BJP and Congress started criticising it saying the move would lead to tribals losing their land, their last source of sustenance. “While the Special Development Council(SDC) for tribals was formed by the government in 2017, it has not done anything significant for them. The move would only end up tribals losing their lands to unscrupulous people in tribal areas. The tribals have already lost their land through different processes, including informal mortgaging and sale of land through illegal means. After they sell off their land, what would they do,” asked BJP MLA Nityanand Gond.
{{/usCountry}}Terming the decision as an attempt to loot the land of tribals, senior Congress leader and MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati alleged that it is a conspiracy to hand over their land to industrialists. “The BJD government is acting at the behest of corporates in tribal areas and this step is a conspiracy against them. The CAG report last year said tribal landholding in the state declined by over 12 % between 2005 and 2015,” he said.
BJD leaders said the government withheld the cabinet decision as they did not want the party to be in a difficult position in a crucial district like Mayurbhanj, where it did not fare well in 2019 assembly poll. The revenue and disaster management department which would implement the decision is headed by a tribal minister, who hails from Mayurbhanj. “It was a hastily taken decision and should have not been placed in the Cabinet while elections are less than 4 months away,” a senior BJD leader said. The BJD leader said they were also unsure whether President Droupadi Murmu would give her assent to the amendment ahead of the election.
In 1977, the Centre had declared the districts of Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangapur and Rayagada as Scheduled V districts. Apart from these districts, Kuchinda tahasil of Sambalpur district, Keonjhar, Telkoi, Champua, Barbil tahasils of Keonjhar district, Kandhamal, Baliguda and G.Udayagiri tahasil of Kandhamal district, R.Udaygiri tahasil, Gumma and Rayagada block of Gajapati district, Surada tahasil of Ganjam district, Thuamul Rampur and Lanjigarh blocks of Kalahandi district and Nilagiri block of
Balasore district have been listed Schedule V Areas of the state. Tribals constitute nearly 23 per cent of the total 4.2 crore population of the state, as per 2011 census.
Transfer of land to non-tribals was forbidden through Odisha Land Reforms Act, 1960 for non-scheduled areas and Orissa Scheduled Areas Transfer of Immovable Property (by Scheduled Tribes) Regulation, 1956 for the scheduled areas, except with the permission of competent authorities. In 2002, the Orissa Government amended the OSATIP, 1956 allowing tribals to mortgage their land to any public financial institution for agricultural purposes only.