Why should land not be allotted to ex-servicemen if available?
9 Jul, 2013An application was filed with the Odisha Government under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking to get the details about land earmarked for allotment to ex-servicemen.
The reply reveals that despite around one lakh acres of land being available for the ex-defence personnel, just a few jawans have been allotted the same though the Rajya Sainik Board had certified 2,726 applications for sanction of land. The reply shows that around 98,377 acres of land has been reserved in Odisha for ex-servicemen under “Jawan Sarankhita” category. The total volume of land earmarked for ex-defense personnel is likely to be much greater than this as this data pertains only to 51 tehsils out of 316 tehsils in the state.
However, according to a revenue official, the data provided by the tehsils might not be entirely correct. He contended that the record of land under Jawan Sarankhita might be available on paper but physically it might not exist.