BHUBANESWAR: The state cabinet on Tuesday approved amendments to some provisions of Regulation-2 of Odisha Scheduled Areas Transfer of Immovable Property Amendment Regulation to facilitate the transfer and mortgage of land belonging to scheduled tribes (ST).
As per the amendments recommended by the Scheduled Tribe Advisory Council, an ST person may with the written permission of the sub-collector, make a gift or exchange for a public purpose or obtain a loan by securing a mortgage in a public financial institution. He may also transfer his land to a person not belonging to the ST category.
A scheduled tribe person can mortgage land or transfer land for agriculture, construction of residential houses, higher studies of children, self-employment, business or establishment of small-scale industries. If the sub-collector does not grant permission, then the person can appeal to the collector within six months and the decision will be final.
In view of the larger interest of scheduled tribes, Regulation-2, 1956 is being implemented in the scheduled areas of the state. Some amendments were made to the regulation in 2002 in which an ST person can transfer his immovable property only to STs. Besides, a scheduled tribe person in a scheduled area can mortgage his land to any public financial institution for agricultural purposes only.
However, because of these restrictions educated scheduled tribe youths were facing many difficulties. Fresh amendments approved by the cabinet today resolve these problems. The cabinet also approved the government decision to construct a ring road in Ganjam district for Rs 156 crore to boost development in Berhampur, Chhatrapur and Gopalpur towns and ease traffic flow. The project is targeted to be completed within two years.
Besides, the cabinet also cleared the proposal for the construction of a barrage across the Rushikulya River near Janivilli village in Ganjam district. The Rs 86 crore proposal also includes power and road connectivity works. The project will provide irrigation to 52,675 hectares in the Ganjam district and provide a drinking water facility of 67.5 million litres per day to the people of Berhampur city.