Luck smiles on landless labourer after 26 years of wait

Patna, Dec 2 (PTI) Luck seems to have smiled on a landless labourer after long agonising wait with Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi ordering to provide land to him under government scheme for which he had made a recommendation 26 year ago as a minister. The matter came to light at "Janata ke Darbar me Mukhya Mantri" programme yesterday when a landless dalit labourer Prithviraj Chouhan showed a letter of Manjhi as Revenue minister in Congress government of Bindeshwari Dubey in 1988 recommending a parcha or land ownership. An astonished Manjhi saw the letter and assured the applicant that now he would get the promise translated into a reality. Entertaining application of 50 dalit families, hailing from Kushwa-Kampa village under Bikram block of Patna district, who were settled in "Garmazrua" (government) land without valid papers, Manjhi as Revenue minister had on January 1, 1988 recommended to provide them the parchas. Following the chief minister's instruction, Patna District Magistrate Abhay Kumar Singh immediately came into action. Singh said today "the concerned person will get land within 15 days." Singh said he had instructed Additional District Magistrate (Revenue) to expedite the process so that the applicant got land under government scheme for Mahadalits, the poorest among dalits. The Patna DM, who took up the post after marching order to his predecessor Manish Verma in the wake of Dushhera day stampede which left 33 dead, said he had ordered officials to identify such cases pending for past many years. "The district administration will launch a special drive to clear the process of allotment of land to the needy," Singh added. PTI