Jharkhand Governor says no to BJP’s amendments to native tenancy acts.  

In December 2016, Newslaundry travelled to Godda district, Jharkhand, to cover the conflict brewing over Adani Power (Jharkhand) Limited’s proposed power plant. The land identified by Adani for this project is 2400 acres of and includes multicrop land (more than one kind of crop can be grown on it), ponds, and homes.

While covering the protests we met Suraj Hembram, in his 70s, who owns 12 bighas of land in the area. He could have received over Rs 60 lakh as compensation from the Adani group. But Hembram, who belongs to the tribal community, chose his land rights instead. “Virodh karte hain [power plant ka] … kahan rakhenge paisa…acha  to mera fus ka ghar hai… na garmi mein garmi lagta hai, na hi tand mein tand. Nahi lagwana hai [plant] (I oppose the power plant… Where will I keep the money? … My kaccha house is ideal for all weather. I don’t want the power plant here)”.

Hembram said that his ancestors bequeathed the land to him and it is his responsibility to pass the land onto future generations. He considered himself a caretaker of the land more than a landowner.

Godda is part of Jharkhand’s Santhal Pargana division. The land rights of the tribal population in the tribal state were protected under the Santhal Pargana Tenancy (SPT-1908) and Chotanagpur Tenancy (CNT-1949) Acts. The acts, considered vital to the spirit of the tribal state, restricted the acquisition of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes. They were amended hurriedly by the assembly in November 2016. Seven months later, on June 25, Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu gave the BJP government its first major jolt by returning the CNT-SPT amendment bills.

The amendments had sought to empower the government to use agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes. No consensus was built amongst the tribal groups and political parties before the passage of the amendments. As a result, Jharkhand has been grappling with unrest and several protests. Several strikes were called. Each time, almost the entire oppositional leadership was arrested by the police. Amidst these protests, a few tribal people were also killed as a result of police firings.

Vehicles torched during CNT-SPT protest in Jharkhand (Image Credit: Sourced)

The Raghubar Das government has discredited these protests by claiming they were politically motivated. However, when Murmu returned the amendment bills, this claim fell apart. Its own legislators, MPs and state Union Minister publicly expressed their discontent. The state leadership is holding a series of meetings with BJP tribal leaders. Meanwhile, this has given the opposition parties enough ammunition to intensify its salvo on the saffron party.

The laws were aimed at protecting the land rights of the tribal population in the state—people like Hembram. Where currently, he can exercise his choice in what to do with his land, the amendments would allow the government to acquire land for non-agricultural purposes including that for private projects.

On November 23, amidst much chaos, the amendments to CNT and SPT were tabled in the Assembly and passed within three minutes. The entire opposition – Jharkhand Mukti Morch (JMM), Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM), Congress Party – had opposed the amendments vehemently. Notably, the BJP’s own ally, the All Jharkhand Students’ Union was also standing firm with the opposition.

“We are in touch with all political parties and will hold talks with them,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Saryu Rai told Newslaundry. He further added that the government is trying to build a “consensus. Baat chal rahi hai. Baatcheet ka jo natija aaega uske anusar nirnay hoga (Talks are being held. We will decide according to the results of these.)”

However, Rai maintained that the government will try to push the amendments. Strangely enough, local media reports indicate that the Raghubar government had agreed to backtrack these amendments – which Rai’s statement would seem to contradict.

Murmu had sent back these amendments as over 120 issues had been flagged by political and non-political organisations. We asked him what some of these concerns were, but he declined to answer on the grounds that he could “not share details of the issues.”

According to the opposition parties, around 198 non-political tribal groups have registered their grievances with the Governor. And with dissent registered among the BJP itself, this might be too loud to be ignored. Former chief minister and veteran BJP leader Arjun Munda has been opposing these amendments. He was part of the meetings called by the state leadership to avert the crisis. Munda told Newslaundry, “Kuch vishaya samne aaya tha jis par humne kaha tha ki isse adivasiyon ko bhari nuqshan ka andesa hai. To waise chizon ko lagu nahi karna chahiye (I had raised a few issues regarding these amendments which would adversely affect the tribals. Such matters should not be implemented by the government.)” He pointed out the government’s intentions to amend section 21 of CNT and section 13 of SPT could have changed the “entire nature of these acts.”

At the internal party meetings, leaders from the tribal community have made their displeasure known. Munda told us,“pehle jo section 21, 13 ki baat ko rahi thi jisse pura nature [of the act] badal rahi thi un sab cheezon par to logon [BJP MLAs] ki narzagi bahut adhik thi (the BJP tribal MLAs are angry about the amendments related to Section 21 and 13.)”

Munda also agreed that the bills in the assembly should not have been passed in such an undemocratic manner and “government should have given enough time for discussion and passage of the bills.”

On July 3, the government had called the meeting of Tribal Advisory Council (TAC) to take its opinion the matter. The 16-member council counsels the government on matters related to tribal affairs in the state. However, the opposition seem less confident about the credentials of those involved in the decision-making process.

The principal opposition party – JMM – has said that several members of the TAC have links with the BJP. “TAC ka meeting mein sahmati lene ka koshish karega… wo log kai BJP ka member bhi hai… Kai member ese hain jo bahar bill kar virodh karte  hain aur andar samarthan (Even TAC has BJP members. There are a few others who criticize the government’s move in the public and support them during the closed-door meetings),” JMM legislator and former protem speaker of Jharkhand assembly, Stephen Marandi told Newslaundry.

Das has been accused by the opposition of pushing these amendments in order to boost investment under Momentum Jharkhand. According to the opposition parties, it is only because of veteran BJP leaders such as Arjun Munda and Union Minister Sudarshan Bhagat, that the Governor could muster the courage to return the bill.

CM Raghubar Das at Momentum Jharkhand summit in Ranchi (Image Credit: Momentum Jharkhand)

The JMM leader said that any amendment which attempts to dilute ownership rights of the land of the tribal community – will be resisted by the entire opposition. The “spirit of these acts is the non-transferrable clause. By amending this clause, they [BJP] are killing the very spirit of the CNT-SPT act,” said Marandi.

While JMM claimed that the BJP has not initiated any attempts to hold an all-party meeting on the issue, it also accused the saffron party of playing in the hands of the corporate lobby. “Corporates have funded the BJP in the assembly polls. The structure of these bills was prepared by the corporate lobby,” he said. “Land Acquisition ke tahat corporate jameen lene ko razi nahi hua. Sarkar ne tab ye bill banane ka koshish kiya (The corporates didn’t agree to acquire land under the LARR Act 2013. Only then did the state government draft this bill.)” 

Under the LARR, those acquiring land will have to pay four times the market rate to titleholders. Chapter three of LARR also stipulates that no irrigated multi-crop land shall be acquired unless it is an exceptional case. And most of all, non-title holder affected families are also eligible for compensation.

Earlier, the former CM and Munda had agreed that, during his tenure, there was a corporate lobby which had tried to pressurise him to bring amendments in the CNT-SPT act. However, when asked who specifically, Munda said “samay aaega to baat karenge (We will talk about this when the time is right.)”

While the government is trying to save face by building consensus within the party, it is also taking a jab at the opposition parties. The BJP accused JMM patriarch Shibu Soren and JMM chief Hemant Soren of violating the CNT-SPT acts – as they own a large amount of land. JMM has called this accusation a political vendetta and dared the government to investigate the issue through its agencies.

The BJP’s poor stance had already exposed why amendments in the CNT-SPT shouldn’t be supported. One of the amendments reads that the government can acquire land for any important purpose including those notified by the state, as and when required. Adani Power (Jharkhand) Limited’s proposed 1,600-megawatt thermal power plant in Poraiyahat and Godda blocks of Godda district appears to be one of those. The entire process of land acquisition is witnessing fierce opposition from both the titleholders of the land and affected families and was being led by local JVM legislator Pradip Yadav. On April 7, Yadav was arrested by the police for preventing Government officials from dispensing their duties during. He is yet to receive bail.

Such incidents serve to place a firm question mark on the intentions of the BJP government in the state. The Das government needs land to execute the ambitious deals made under the investment summits – Momentum Jharkhand. But pushing such amendments without the support of the people can prove detrimental to the very spirit of the tribal state and the people who live there.

The author can be contacted on Twitter @tweets_amit.