Baffled with the non-responsive attitude from the State Government despite its promise of taking locals into confidence before starting any construction work, Kute villagers have decided to start farming from Friday on their land, acquired for the construction of new Assembly building.
Amid protests, Chief Minister Hemant Soren had laid foundation stone for the new Assembly building on January 21 last to be built at Kute village, on the capital outskirts. “We will start tilling our land from tomorrow, as the government wants to grab our land without giving us anything,” said a local villager Pankaj Shahdeo
The locals are staging indefinite dharna on the construction site after they stopped the measurement work being done by the Chief Engineer without their consent, as promised earlier by the Chief Minister. They were also joined by local MlAs Bandhu Tirkey and Navin Jaiswal along with the newly elected MP Ramtahal Chaudhary.
“The State Government is trying to cheat us; CM during the foundation laying stone had promised us that not a single stone will be laid without our consent but we were never consulted afterwards,” added Shahdeo. People of the area, however, got alerted after they spotted Chief Engineer along with his team taking measurement of the land for the purpose of layout for the new Assembly building.
“It was shocking for us as CM had told us that laying foundation stone does not mean construction and all their demands will be fulfilled before starting any construction work on the site,” said Shahdeo.
Another villager Rahul also alleged that the State government is trying to adopt suppressive attitude towards the villagers which will not be allowed by them. He also claimed that as many as people of 32 villages are standing firm against the injustice done with the villagers of six villages. The villages getting affected are – Kute, Mudma, Aani, Jagannathpur, Tiril and laved.
Referring to the land Acquisition Act of 2013, Shahdeo claimed that the government has no legal right to acquire our land forcefully as the law says that any land acquired after 1894, it remained in the possession of the ‘raiyats’ or the compensation was not paid to them, in that condition the ownership of the land will belong to the original ‘raiyats’.
He alleged that the government only wants to strengthen its position legally by taking possession of the land from the villagers in order to prove its point in the court.
Former MP Subodh Kant Sahay addressing the villagers said that the State Government must ensure that injustice is not done to the displaced villages. He also added that there is a sense of resentment among the villagers who were promised that their consent will be taken before any construction work but was not done. He appealed to the Soren government that the villager’s interest is protected before taking any further decision.
The 11-member delegation of villagers during the talks with the Chief Minister on January 20 had placed three demands before him – firstly, to leave the villages in its present condition. Secondly, 25 per cent of their lands should be left with the villagers to make their living and lastly, 30 per cent of the job openings out of the construction and establishment of government offices should be secured for displaced villagers. No initiative was taken by the government to fulfill any of their demands, they alleged.
According to another local, government had acquired around 7,800 acre from villagers in the 60’s for HEC but used barely 2,400 acre of it. “Instead of returning the unused land to its owners, it started selling the unused land like real estate company,” he alleged.
The proposed site of the core-capital, he said, was within the unused land and the villagers now want their land back. “After getting their land, they will decide whether core-capital should come up on the land or not,” he said.