Bhubaneswar, Sept. 19: The land mafia have not even spared Bhoodan land in Odisha that was meant for distribution among the landless people.

A worried state government has handed over three cases of grabbing of Bhoodan land to the Crime Branch for probe. The government is also planning to open Bhoodan cells in each district to look into these issues. At stake are 6.38 lakh acres across the state.

Revenue minister Surya Narayan Patro admitted that the land mafia was quite active in grabbing Bhoodan land.

“Three cases have been handed over to the Crime Branch. We will get back all land and redistribute it among the landless,” said Patro, adding that the exercise to recover the land would start shortly.

Of the 6,38,593 acres collected under the Bhoodan movement in Odisha, 5,79,984 acres were distributed to the poor and 58,722 acres remains undistributed. However, builders and realtors have grabbed land distributed to the poor. The land mafia has grabbed even undistributed Bhoodan land.

Tomorrow in New Delhi the Centre has called a meeting of states where Bhoodan land exists. Patro said: “Senior state government officers will participate in the meeting. Besides the Bhoodan land, the issue of general land settlement will also be discussed.”

The state government found that the land mafia has grabbed 178 acres at Jatni worth around Rs 250 crore.

Senior officers admit that in connivance with revenue officials, land mafia have either grabbed valuable land or sold it to people at high rates. Though the law says that owners of Bhoodan land can’t sell it to others, the mafia prevailed on them and were able to acquire land from them by using either money or muscle power. According to the law, after the land was collected from donations, it was given to the landless people and later they were sent to the tehsil office to record the possession.

However, tehsil officials do not take any steps to handover the land in the name of the landless people. Around 30,822 cases are pending at various tehsils of Odisha for confirmation of 1.63 acres.

Noted social activist Prabir Mohanty said Vinoba Bhave’s Bhoodan (gift of land) movement, which started in 1951 from Pochampally village of Telengana in Andhra Pradesh, seemed to have lost its sheen and the very purpose of the movement has been defeated in Odisha.

After Vinoba reached the state in 1954, the Bhoodan movement gained momentum and nearly 6.38 lakh acres were acquired through donation. The Orissa Bhoodan Yagna Samiti was set up with an aim to regularise the lands and distribute it among the landless. Of this, 5.79 lakh acres were distributed. But to the surprise of the government, most of the land appears to have been grabbed by the land mafia.

“The government has no idea how many lakhs of acres have gone to the land mafia over the years,” said Mohanty.