SAMBALPUR: The much-hyped ‘Mo Jami, Mo Ghara Diha’ scheme for tribals is in the thick of a controversy after a woman, who had reportedly died, came alive to claim right over her land which was on the verge of transfer.
The incident came to light after Additional Sub-Collector Ashok Kumar Purohit of Sambalpur found the anomaly when the case was put up before him. The issue brought to the fore a nexus between the land sharks and the officials of tehsil office. Purohit alleged involvement of two revenue officials in facilitating the transfer of tribal land to a non-tribal.
In 2004 in Sunapali Mouza under Sadar tehsil of Sambalpur, an area of 4.67 acre owned by Nagua Munda and Runtu Munda was sold to one Jagmohan Singh at Rs 1,000 per decimal while the market value was Rs 11,000. However, Pana Oram, wife of Nagua had objected to the deal and appealed before the Additional Sub-Collector. Investigation revealed that the land had been recorded in the name of 17 persons and one of the them, Ram Gangi Munda was reported dead and the others were ignorant about the deal. Even Jagmohan bought the land claiming himself as tribal without producing valid documents. Later, Purohit stayed the transfer and the case was put up for hearing on Friday.
After hearing, Purohit gave back the land papers to the owners and rejected application for its transfer. He also directed for cancellation of tribal certificate issued to Jagmohan.