Mandar MLA Bandhu Tirkey, who belongs to the ruling coalition led by JMM, has alleged that poor land owners and farmers were being duped of their property by unscrupulous government officials and asked chief minister Hemant Soren to order a special survey to publish land records of both private and public owners.

Addressing the media on Monday, Tirkey said, “I am coming across several cases of illegal registration of land, mutation on a daily basis. Poor farmers are facing the brunt as they are uneducated and land sharks in connivance with officials of circle office where registration and mutation takes place resort to illegal acts. In the event of litigation, poor people can’t afford to fight court cases.”

Tirkey, who is in the Congress, has been raising the issue of land disputes for quite some time. “This government came to power on the plank of safeguarding jal (water), jungle (forest) and jameen (land) of poor tribals. Hence, I demand that the government publish land records (khatiyan),” he said.

“In many cases the situation is such that the same piece of land is registered/mutated under multiple names leading to litigation. Those working in circle offices are hand in glove with land sharks. When the matter reaches courts, those who have money fight it out while the poor fail to defend themselves,” he said, demanding that the state government set up a redressal cell offering a one-stop solution.

Tirkey won from Mandar on a JVM-P ticket in the 2019 Assembly polls in December. But he joined the Congress early this year after Babulal Marandi merged his party (JVM-P) with the BJP. Both are currently facing anti-defection cases in the court of the Jharkhand Assembly speaker and the matter is sub judice.

Tirkey, despite being in the ruling Congress, has been vocal on the issue of land. In September, he was the first to speak out against the controversial Jharkhand Land Mutation Bill, 2020 after it was cleared by the state Cabinet. Ultimately, the bill wasn’t tabled in the Assembly.