Bhubaneswar, June 23: Ownership of land continues to be a contentious issue in the larger part of Orissa’s tribal belt with flashpoints such as Narayanpatna, the epicentre of a violent anti-landlord movement, emerging frequently.

In Narayanpatna, the Maoist-backed Chasi Muliya Adivasi Sangh (CMAS) snatched away more than 100 acres from non-tribals a few months ago with the administration remaining a mute spectator. The organisation said it was tribal land that was fraudulently taken away from them by the non-tribals.

Such cases had also been reported in the past in districts such as Nowrangpur and Malkangiri, leading to violent demonstrations and clashes. In one case, police had to open fire to quell the disturbances resulting in the death of two tribals.

The Orissa government, however, claims to have done its bit to check the fraudulent transfer of tribal land to non-tribals.

Sources said the government had been strict in dealing with such issues since 1956, when a law came into force prohibiting sale of land by a tribal to a non-tribal in a scheduled area without the permission of the competent authority, which could be a sub-collector or a tehsildar.

The Orissa Land Reforms Act, 1960, made such permission mandatory for sale of land belonging to both tribals and harijans to people outside these categories. Sources said quite a few tribals sold their land to non-tribals between 1956 and 2000 with the permission of the competent revenue officials.

However, in 2000, when the Naveen Patnaik government came to power, the regulation of 1956 was amended, prohibiting sale of tribal land to non-tribals even with the permission of the competent authority in the scheduled area. “A tribal can sell his land to another tribal and no one else,” said revenue minister Surya Narayan Patro referring to the amendment.

Later, things became even stricter with another regulation in 2004 calling upon non-tribals, who had purchased tribal land in scheduled areas, to file declarations giving details of cost and circumstances under which the purchase was made.

“In 90 per cent of the cases, people did not file declarations. Some even went to court,” said an officer. Subsequently, the government appointed special officers in the tribal-dominated areas such as Gajpati and Koraput to address the land issue. Provisions were also made to restore land, for which the non-tribal purchasers failed to file declarations, back to the tribals.

“However, despite such initiatives, certain areas of conflict do exist. It will need a sustained effort on part of the government to settle the land issue,” said an officer.