Ongoing land survey in Bihar exercise to evict poor, must be stopped: CPI (ML) Liberation

Patna | Terming the ongoing land survey in Bihar an "attempt to evict the poor from their lands", the CPI (ML) Liberation on Saturday urged Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to immediately halt the exercise.

The party, which is an alliance partner of the Mahagathbandhan and has two Lok Sabha MPs in Bihar, also announced that it would undertake a statewide campaign 'Badlo Bihar Nyay Yatra' from October 16 to 25 against the alleged failure of the NDA government on several fronts.

Speaking to reporters here, CPI (ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, said, "It's a fact that the ongoing land survey in Bihar is an attempt to evict the poor from their lands by the Nitish Kumar government. The state government is targeting the poor who have been living on their lands for generations."

"We urge the government to immediately stop this exercise, and next time whenever the government plans to launch it, it will have to first give guarantee to the poor that they would be provided with lands after completion of the exercise," he said.

"Similarly, installation of smart prepaid electricity meters is another attempt by the government to extort money from the poor. This exercise is totally unjustified. Electricity bills have surged several folds, causing heavy financial strain on consumers. We will not allow this to happen," Bhattacharya added.

Keeping all these issues in mind, the CPI (ML) Liberation has decided launch a state-wide campaign 'Badlo Bihar Nyay Yatra' from October 16 to 25 against the failure of the NDA government in Bihar on several fronts, he said.

And finally, the party will organise a 'Nyay Sammelan' in Patna on October 27 to highlight the failures of the Nitish Kumar government, he added.

"We also demand a special session of the Bihar Assembly to discuss these issues," he said, while alleging that the state government is not concerned about the problems being faced by the people of the state.

After the caste survey in Bihar, the state government had announced financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh for 95 lakh poor families but there has been no initiative by the government to fulfil this promise, he said.

"We launched the 'Haq Do, Vaada Nibhaao' (give us our rights, fulfil your promises) campaign at a convention in Patna on July 16 this year seeking the release of Rs 2 lakh to every poor family, land for the landless, pucca houses for all, 200 units of free electricity, MSP for farmers and employment for youth," he added.

The Bihar government is undertaking a special land survey to update land records in the state. The last cadastral survey in the state was conducted in 1911 during the British rule. The government's main aim behind conducting the land survey is to reduce the cases of land disputes, officials said.