In the name of social service, the flipside of a NGO acquiring valuable Government land has come to the fore in Barbil tehsil here.Sources close to Arjuna Sandil, Sarpanch of Bhadrashi panchayat under Joda block revealed that the panchayat office which is situated near the side of the NH-215 will be demolished for the expansion work of the NH.
A general body meeting of the Panchayat was held on August 15 last in which it was unanimously decided to shift the Panchayat office to plot No-118 of the village. A letter from the Panchayat office was written to the Barbil Tehsildar, requesting him to earmark the land for the Panchayat office.
In the meantime, it came to the fore that a NGO in the name of Sai Educational Trust has acquired a patta land by the side of that Government land. And the NGO is trying to acquire the whole land. The villagers under the leadership of former Sarpanch Kunja Palei and local leader Kuasha Apat opposed the move on the pretext that land if the land was given to the NGO, then panchayat office could not be shifted. They submitted a memorandum to district Collector Dr N Tiramallanaik, seeking appropriate action.