The proposed amendment in Section 46 of the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act has been welcomed by tribal activists but with reservations about the intention of the State Government in getting the Act amended now. The proposal was tabled at the meeting of the Tribal Advisory Committee (TAC) on Saturday and subsequently a sub-committee has been constituted in the leadership of Minister Food and Civil Supplies lobin Hembrom.
The committee will submit a report on social and legal implications of the amendment of the section which restricts jurisdiction of land transfer to a police station area. The committee has been given ten days time to submit its report, however, with elections just round the corner, the provisions are unlikely to be amended before everything halts due to Model Code of Conduct.
“I don’t think that the Government is serious about amending the provision. It (State Government) has completed one year, yet it did nothing in the first year. I would have trusted the Government had they set a deadline of completing it before the Model Code of Conduct for Assembly elections come into effect,” said social activist Dayamani Barla.
Notably, tenure of the current Assembly will end in January and there have been indications of the State going to poll towards the end of 2014. The TAC did not hold meeting even once in the last one year and even the proposed changes have been lying on the table of the council since 2012. In the absence of the sufficient time to get the Act amended, the Government’s move is being seen as an eyewash and a poll plank before elections.
“This is a pure political gimmick and it is almost impossible to get the act amended before elections. The question one should ask is — why now and why not earlierIJ” said Coordinator of CNT Act Suraksha Samiti, Ratan Tirkey.
Nonetheless, the proposal has been welcomed citing changes in demography and stature of tribal community in Jharkhand over 100 years. Champions of Adivasi cause believe that the situation is entirely different from 1908 when the act was promulgated to protect the community from influx of people from outside thus the time is ripe to bring about a change in the Act.
“The change will help Adivasi community while maintaining the essence of the CNT Act,” asserted Barla.
The proposed change advocates allowing intercommunity transfer of land by diluting the restriction of jurisdiction of police station area and making a tribal eligible for owning property anywhere in Jharkhand.
“The population of middle class tribal people is more than upper and lower class. The middle class has a tremendous investment potential which is severely restricted due to the act. This will benefit them more. And I don’t think that the act can be exploited by upper class tribal as they already own vast tracts of land,” maintained Tirkey.
Meanwhile, activists across social spectrum lay great emphasis on repealing the power bestowed in Schedule Area Regulatory court that awards compensation to a tribal in lieu of land and hence awards title of CNT land to anyone.