BERHAMPUR: State Revenue Minister Manmohan Samal has asked revenue officials of south Orissa to make arrangements for distribution of land pattas to the landless by July next.

Mr. Samal, along with State revenue secretary G. Sharma, attended a meeting of revenue officials of southern districts of Orissa held at JN Tata Technical Training Centre at Mandiapalli on Wednesday. The Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC), southern range, C.T.M. Suguna, collectors, sub-collectors and tehsildars from nine districts of south Orissa attended the review meeting.

Tops in the task

Discussions were held on the disbursement of land passbooks to peasants. It was found that in the field of land passbook disbursement, Nowrangpur topped with 58 per cent achievement while Ganjam had the lowest achievement rate at 21 per cent. Mr. Samal advised tehsildars to speed up the process of distribution of land passbooks in their respective areas. They were advised to put stress on the Vasundhara scheme for the landless.

The State government is keen on the land matters in south Orissa as land disputes in tribal areas are the main cause of tension in these areas. Usually, tribals and harijans living in remote areas do not have legal records of the land they are using since generations. It leads to deceitful takeover of tribal lands by non-tribals and land-related disputes. The new rehabilitation policy of the State government was also a major point of discussion. The State revenue secretary and the revenue minister cited the recent decision of the government to go for rehabilitation and resettlement works first before going for land acquisition for any industrial project.

Revenue officials described the problems they are facing for rehabilitation and resettlement of oustees in their respective areas. The State revenue secretary clarified the doubts of the officials as per the new rehabilitation policy of the State government.

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