Bhubaneswar, Dec 5: Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari on Thursday informed that the government would not tolerate illegal occupation of tribal land in the state.
Replying to a question from BJP legislator Bhaskar Madhei, Pujari told the state assembly that any influential non-tribal who illegally occupies land belonging to Scheduled Tribes (ST) or Scheduled Castes (SC) would face legal action.
The Minister assured that such land would be returned to its rightful owner after the illegal occupiers were evicted.
He informed that 654 cases of illegal occupation were currently under review, with the government taking appropriate action after conducting inquiries.
Pujari said that if any land of SC/ST individuals was bought in violation of the Land Reform Act of 1960, the transaction would be declared illegal, and the land would be restored to its rightful owners through the eviction process.
At present, 881 such cases were under consideration.
In cases where non-tribals were found encroaching on tribal land in Scheduled Areas, the government would declare the occupation illegal and return the land to the tribal community.
A total of 19,690 such cases are currently being reviewed, he said.
