Chhattisgarh: Government to return 1764.61 hectares of tribal land in Bastar

RAIPUR: Fulfilling yet another poll promise, Congress government in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday issued formal orders to return 1764.61 hectares of land, acquired from ten villages around Lohandiguda in tribal Bastar district about a decade ago, for setting up Tata Steel’s integrated mega steel plant project which has been abandoned.
The orders, issued by the state revenue department, said the farmers land is being returned to its original owners as per the provisions of The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.Section 101 of the Act stipulates that when any land acquired remains unutilised for a period of five years from the date of taking over the possession, the same shall be returned to the original owners or their legal heirs.
In 2005, the then BJP government had signed a memorandum of understanding with Tata Steel for a Rs 19,500 crore integrated steel plant in Lohandiguda area of tribal Bastar district. The The acquisition of land — which belonged to tribals —began in 2008, and the government acquired 1,764 hectares from the 10 villages of Lohandiguda, Chindgaon, Kumhali, Beliyapal, Bandaji, Dabpal, Badeparoda, Belar, Sirsiguda and Takraguda.
Despite protest from the local tribals against land acquisition, the BJP government went ahead with land acquisition building up a narrative setting up of an integrated steel plant in the remote tribal area would boost development and trigger economic activities—as it happened in Bhilai in the mid-1950s. As protested mounted in 2008, agitating tribals were booked under various sections, grams sabhas were held under heavy police bandobust and there were also complaints that compensation amount was forcibly deposited into the bank accounts of project affected people.
While the project did not take off, Tata Steel backed out from the Bastar project in August 2016 but the BJP government did not return the land to its original owners, citing that possession of land was still with the farmers. At one stage the then government argued that the land acquired has been kept in land pool of the Chhattisgarh State Industries development corporation (CSIDC).
During a recent visit to Lohandiguda, the locals told TOI that the land acquisition had brought untold miseries to them, including the children in these 10 villages, as revenue authorities refused to give them caste certificates, residence certificates and other revenue documents as their land ownership deeds have become void after their land was acquired for the industrial project. Besides, the farmers were not entitled to avail loan for agriculture and even those who took money for cultivation from loan sharks could not sell their produce under government’s minimum support price scheme.
During his election visit to tribal Bastar, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had promised the tribals to return their land which was acquired for the Tata Steel’s Greenfield integrated steel plant project. After the Congress wrested power from the BJP after a span of 15 years, chief minister Bhupesh Baghel promptly took steps to fulfil the poll promise of returning the land to its original owners and issued formal orders within a month.