TNI Bureau: There is an outrage over the sale of Lord Jagannath’s land donated by the devotees across the country. The thousands of acres of land are either unused or encroached upon for decades – mostly in rural belts.
What was the actual decision? Why it was decided to sell the land and to whom? At what price? Was there no other alternative? All answers below. ?
? The recommendation to sell the unused/encroached land of Lord Jagannath across India, was made by a High Level Committee headed by then Odisha Governor Bhagwat Dayal Sharma, who held the Constitutional post from 1977 to 1980.
? In accordance with the recommendation of the Commission, steps are being taken to sell out the land as per the State Government’s approved Uniform Policy (Saman Niti).
? Money collected from the sale of land, is being deposited in Temple Corpus Fund.
? Steps are being taken to sell the land in 6 States outside Odisha (West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra) along with other places outside Puri.
? 582.255 acres of land in Khordha District, has been given to Odisha Cashew Development Corporation (OCDC) on a lease. Govt earns Rs 3 lakh revenue per annum from this.
? Hundreds of acres of land are being taken care of with the help of Sharecroppers.
? People who have occupied Srimandir land for more than 30 years, will have to pay Rs 6 lakh per acre to get possession.
? People who have occupied Srimandir land for more than 20 years (but less than 30 years), will have to pay Rs 9 lakh per acre to get possession.
? People who have occupied Srimandir land for 12-20 years, will have to pay Rs 15 lakh per acre to get possession.
? Another committee was formed to implement the recommendation of BD Sharma Committee and everything is being done in a transparent manner, says the Government.
If the Government decides to sue the encroachers who are in possession of the land for decades, the legal cases may continue for another few decades and won’t serve the purpose.
Since the matter is related to emotions and sentiments, the outrage is obvious and justified. But, the ground reality warrants negotiation and soft approach to deal with the situation.