Clarification on land mutation order soon, says Minister

Sticking to his stand that the recent order providing mutation to plantation lands of Wagamon and Bonami Estates, owned by MMJ Group, had been kept in abeyance, Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash said that a clarification would be issued at the earliest on giving mutations to fragmented lands.

“The order has been kept in abeyance. There was a need for giving a clarification on the date mentioned in the order. In the order, it has been mentioned that lands sold till May 25, 2013 will be provided mutation. A clarification on the date will be given at the earliest, may be on Wednesday itself,” he told Express.

The Minister said this in the wake of a controversy over an order of former District Collector of Idukki, who had given permission to effect mutation to the fragmented lands.

This was against the stand taken by the Revenue Minister on the order issued on June 3. The Minister said that mutation would be accorded to fragmented lands of the two estates, which had been handed over to the employees at the time of settlement.

When the two estates incurred losses, it was decided in 2007-08 to give land to the employees in lieu of pending gratuity. In the order issued on June 3, the Idukki District Collector was asked to take necessary steps for providing mutation to the lands sold till May 25, 2013.

The order had evoked criticism from the Opposition as well as the 'Green MLAs' of the ruling UDF, with many of the leaders stating that the issue would be raised in various forums. Earlier, former Ministers A K Balan and K P Rajendran had alleged that the whole plantation would fall into the hands of the real estate mafia with this order.

‘Green’ MLAs V D Satheesan and T N Pratapan had also said that there was a possibility that the order could be misused in future. It was also alleged that the order would only dilute the Kerala Land Reforms Act.

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