Taking a strong note of the reports of irregularities in the payment of compensation to the beneficiaries against acquisition of their land for the construction of Knowledge City in Khunti, Chief Minister Raghubar Das has directed the district administration to submit a report after conducting a thorough probe in this regard.
Heavy discrepancies were reportedly found in the payment of compensation to the claimants, whose lands ware acquired for setting up a Knowledge City in Khunti.
Hundreds of illiterate tribals, making up over a quarter of the State's population, are being duped of their compensation amounts either by the middlemen or by their relatives for several decades, often in collusion with administrative officials.
Das has ordered to pay their dues to the genuine claimants. "Genuine claimants should immediately be paid the compensation and the district administration must also ensure that the compensation amount must immediately be transferred to the accounts of the genuine claimants," said the CM. The CM also warned that no cheating will be tolerated in this regard.
The CM, ordering to lodge an FIR against the culprits, has also directed the Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police to submit a report in this regard after properly investigating the case.
The CM, after taking stock of the situation from the land revenue secretary KK Soan, asked Khunti district administration to lodge FIR against the culprits.
"A clear-cut instruction has been given to the concerned DC and SP to take proper action against the culprits within 24 hours after assessing the matter closely. They have also been asked to inform the State Government after taking proper action against them with sensitivity," said Soan.
It is also the responsibility to the State Government to protect the interest of the families of the tribal population and remove any hindrance coming on their ways, Soan added.
Meanwhile, Khunti DC Dr. Prasad Krishna Waghmare, forming a team of four officials under him, has ordered a probe into the allegations. "A team of four officials - Deputy Development Commissioner, Director, District Rural Development Agency, Sub-Divisional Officer and District Development Officer of Khunti, has been constituted to look into the matter and submit a report by Tuesday," said Waghmare.
The DC added that the team will investigate whether the payments were made to the beneficiaries properly or not and the role played by the land acquisition department, basis on which the identification of beneficiaries were done, whether the amount was actually withdrawn from their account or not and what was the role of middlemen in the withdrawal of the money from the accounts of the beneficiaries.
"As the matter is of the year 2013, the investigating team after taking out the records of that period, will investigated into it," said the DC.
A Knowledge City has been proposed to be set up on 404 acres of land over Idri, Birhu, Rewa and Chiruhatu mauza of Khunti, some 5-6 km away from the district headquarter.