PATNAAGARH LANDSCAME

Farmers cheated at Patnagarh, Balangir 05/10/2011

(News gathered at sambalpur)

Balangir , Patnagarh is a place which is about 170 km from sambalpur.

Lingaraj Sahu of Ghumer village under Patnagarh sub-division lost his mental balance after he came to know that his four acres of agricultural land was fraudulently taken away by a company in the name of setting up small industries. He could not reconcile to the fact that his land was no more in his possession and it was registered in the name of the company. Madan Kand, another villager, died of shock after his 1.94 acres of land was grabbed by the company in the same manner. Around 100 farmers of Balangir district, for the last five years, have been running from pillar to post to get their lands back from the company. Around 640 acres has gone into the possession of a company. Even though a Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC)-level inquiry was done after the matter came to light in 2006, the farmers are yet to get justice. It is mostly the farmers under Patnagarh who have been cheated. After taking lease, the company allegedly began Jatropha plantation instead of dairy development and other livelihood enterprises as promised at the time of taking lands. Sources said, in 2005 an Agra-based private company, Taj Biodiesel, (which is also known by different names locally like Spark etc) contacted farmers and told them that their lands will be taken on lease to set up enterprises like incense stick making, dairy etc for their benefit. As alleged, all these lands were taken fraudulently by the company which reportedly asked the farmers to come to tehsil office to sign on documents. Without knowing what they were signing on, the villagers signed on the sale deeds. Some of the affected villagers are residents of Jalpali, Ghumer, Ainlatunga and Ghunghutipali in Patnagarh block. Even after three years of RDC inquiry, the farmers are yet to know about the fate of their lands, nor has the RDC report been made available to them despite repeated requests. On the instruction of then revenue secretary GVV Sharma, RDC Madhusudan Padhi was looking into the matter and after interacting with farmers he had admitted there was gross violation in land dealings by the company. The farmers, meanwhile, have met several officials and politicians, but they have not got any assurance. They are now waiting for the final decision of the Board of Revenue and Planning to move the High Court. They are also thinking of filing criminal cases against the company. It is also a known fact that around 640 acres of land have been grabbed by fraudulent means by the company.“We have been fighting for the last five years. RDC also met us and promised that our lands would be returned. But the issue had got more complicated with the files moving from one office to another,” said Krushna Chandra Banchhor, a farmer of Jalpali village who has lost 6.92 acres. He said their only hope now is the High Court verdict. Puspanjali Satpathy, a researcher dealing with land alienation, said that Balangir case is just the tip of the iceberg. “This problem has happened due to the government policy for promotion of biodiesel plantations in the lands often treated as wastelands. This policy has opened up scope for entry of unscrupulous private companies into the area,” said Satpathy. Meanwhile, Balangir Collector Sailendra Narayan Dey has asked the Patnagarh tehsildar to relook into the matter by meeting the farmers individually. He, however, said that he was yet to get the RDC report.

{“Allowing corporates to negotiate directly with gullible farmers for land acquisition can be a dangerous proposition. Abhadhoot Sahoo, a 65-year-old farmer of Gungatipali village under Patnagarh block in Bolangir district, realises it better than anybody else.
Mr. Sahoo parted with his about 9 acres under the impression that he was leasing his land for three years.
He claimed to have received Rs. 6,000 per acre in 2005. But two years later in 2007, the farmer got a rude shock when he was informed that he had actually sold the land.
Krushna Chandra Banchhoor, fellow villager of Mr. Sahoo, had faced similar fraud. Mr. Banchhoor lost 6.92 acres in lieu of paltry Rs. 42,000. When this came to the light, the narration by farmers was hard to be believed.
But an inquiry conducted by the then Revenue Divisional Commissioner, Sambalpur, report of which was obtained recently by exercise of RTI Act, made it clear that about 358 acres in Bolangir district was acquired by nine companies from New Delhi and one from Agra using dubious means. Several acres of land were acquired in the name of jatropha cultivation. ( Courtesy “ The Hindu” August 31, 2011 )”}

The Industrial Revolutions:

The term 'industrial revolution' was used to describe the period by the 1830s, but modern historians increasingly call this period the 'first industrial revolution', characterised by developments in textiles, iron and steam led by Britain, to differentiate it from a 'second' revolution of the 1850s onwards, characterised by steel, electrics and automobiles led by the US and Germany.

What Changed – Industrially and Economically:
• The invention of steam power, which was used to power factories and transport and allowed for deeper mining.
• Improvement of iron making techniques allowing for vastly higher production levels.
• The textile industry was transformed by new machines – such as the Spinning Jenny - and factories, again allowing for much higher production at a lower cost.
• Better machine tools allowed for more and better machines.
• Developments in metallurgy and chemical production.
• Creation of new and quicker transport networks thanks to first canals and then railways.

What Changed – Socially and Culturally:
• Rapid urbanisation leading to dense, cramped housing and living conditions.
• New city and factory cultures affecting family and peer groups.
• Debates and laws regarding child labour, public health and working conditions.
• Anti-technology groups such as the Luddites.
Causes of the Industrial Revolution:
• The end of feudalism changes economic relationships.
• Higher population because of less disease and lower infant mortality allowed for a larger industrial workforce.
• The agricultural revolution frees people from the soil, allowing – or driving – them into cities and manufacturing.
• Proportionally large amounts of spare capital for investment.
• Inventions and the scientific revolution allowing for new technology.
• Colonial trade networks.
• The presence of all the required resources close together.
• Culture of hard work, taking risks and developing ideas.

The state of Orissa is acting like an agent for the company. The affected land is being farmed; it is already productive. Why give it away? The poor farmers have lost their faiths in the government machinery and the companies who are dealing with them in fraudulent fashion.

Siddhartha Shankar Mishra,
Bureau Chief,
THESE DAYS,
Orissa, Sambalpur.
PH - +919937965779