Congress takes up land settlement issue

MALKANGIRI: The delay in the settlement of homestead lands in favour of the occupants, despite the February 2010 notification of Revenue and Disaster Management Department, has the State Youth Congress take up the cause of the affected families.State Youth Congress president Pradeep Kumar Majhi lamented that the State Government is yet to implement the order even after a year. As per the government records, 90 per cent of the inhabitants of district headquarter town of Malkangiri are encroachers of government land. The delay in handing over land pattas is beyond comprehension and belies the State Government’s tall claims about its initiatives for the inhabitants of the backward region of the State, he added.Majhi said that he would take up the matter with the Revenue Minister. The State Government and the district administration should take up the land settlement issue on a priority basis in the interest of its occupants, he added. According to locals, they are not able to apply for loans since land pattas are not in their name.Malkangiri MLA Mukund Sodi also urged the district administration to take up the settlement issue without further delay to avert a possible unrest over the issue.On condition of anonymity, many bureaucrats have also criticised the Government for not taking up the land settlement issue seriously.