Jatni Congress MLA Suresh Kumar Routray on Monday issued an ultimatum to the State Government to restore the lands of people of his constituency settled in the name of Lord Jagannath by May 19; otherwise, they would gherao the Lokaseba Bhavan.
Routray told a Press conference here that people of 13 villages under Jatni block and municipality area have decided to resort to agitation if the Government does not return their private lands.
Routray mentioned that around 1.72 lakh families are not able to purchase and sell their lands and avail any benefits of both the State and Central Governments since last nine years because of the land issues.
Earlier, these lands were recorded as “sthitiban’ in pattas in the names of villagers since their ancestral periods. During the last settlement, the Government suddenly changed the ownerships and wrongly corrected the record of rights in the name of Lord Jagannath. For this reason, thousands of acres of land have been transferred to the Lord’s name without consent of the people of the localities, said Routray.