Darjeeling MP Raju Bista accuses state of neglect
After chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s criticism of Darjeeling MP Raju Bista, the latter hit back with a strong counterattack, responding to her remarks.
Darjeeling MP Raju Bista has once again appealed to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to take concrete steps towards granting land rights to people in north Bengal, where they have lived for generations.
Notably, the issue of Parja- Patta (land rights documents) has become one of the perennial problems of people in Darjeeling Hills, the Terai and the Dooars, which has led to them being deprived of facilities and schemes sponsored by the central and state governments.
“I request all other political parties, including the Trinamul Congress, and their regional alliances to take up the matter with the state government and work towards ensuring that people from our region are not deprived of their legitimate rights to land,” Mr Bista said in a release he issued on the eve of Independence Day.
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“During my election campaign, I came to realise how vulnerable our people are in the absence of Parja Patta rights, and from day one of my election, I have been following up with various central ministries and raising the issues of our people at the highest level of the government,” he added.
Notably, Mr Bista had raised the land rights issue at Zero Hour of the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha on 18 July 2019, for the people of Darjeeling Hills, Terai and Dooars region, and described the plight of indigenous communities, including Gorkha, Rajbanshi, Adivasi, Ranga, Meche, and Toto.
“I had also informed the Parliament that Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts are the only districts in India where the system of DI Funds still exists, a British taxation system introduced in 1838 to deny land rights for the indigenous people. I had informed the Parliament that people living in tea gardens and cinchona plantations for generations are not given any land rights. Even the Forest Rights Act (2006), which specifically provides for land rights to forest dwellers, has not been implemented in the districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, which has further marginalized our people,” Mr Bista pointed out.
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