Tuesday, December 16, 2008

BIHAR TO HAVE RULE FOR KHAS MAHAL LAND AT LAST









GOLGHAR;THE VESTIGE OF LOST GLORY

The state govt has finally decided to frame Khas Mahal bylaws for managing about 7,000 Hectares of Khas Mahal land which spread over 38 districts of the state. Draft of this bylaw is already in its final stage and is likely to get cabinet’s nod within a couple of days from now.
Till date there is no law or rule with respect to Khas Mahal land in this state and it is being regulated by collection of circulars and adhoc procedures called Bihar Government Estates(Khas Mahal) manual.
Khas Mahal are those lands which were vested into the State after enactment of Bihar Land Reforms Act, 1950 and came directly under the management of the state govt.
All such lands are situated in towns and are very costly. The present manual is slanted towards lease holders and most of the land are held by the lease holders at a throw away price. The renewal process is so simple that even if the lease not renewed, the govt cannot claim the land. At present most of such lands are located in districts like Munger, west champaran, Patna, Bihar sharif, Sasaram and Arrah and are either encroached or have been transferred to different persons for which govt did not get any revenue whatsoever.
If the said Bylaw is approved by the cabinet, the govt will be in a position to reclaim majority of such land and lease out to other persons at market value. This would enable govt to use such land for commercial and other govt purposes also.
On the other hand some people are apprehensive about the real motive of the government. It is pertinent to mention here that most of the Khas Mahal lands are either under illegal possession of influential persons of political or bureaucratic circle.
If the provisions are not implemented in letter and spirit, the Khas Mahal land may discriminately leased out to the people who are close to the political establishement.

WHO FIGHTING FOR ITS EXISTENCE: WILL IT TRIGGER NEW ERA OF CONFLICT? Politics and lust for power are not endemic of India only...