Nitish land sop to poorest of poor in Bihar

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is going all out to prove that his promise to ameliorate the lot of the poorest of the poor in the state was not merely a poll gimmick.

Buoyed by the landslide victory in the state assembly elections, the government has announced it will provide land for building houses to the poorest people from the Dusadh (Paswan) community, along with backward and extremely backward castes.
The decision to extend the scheme to the Paswan community is significant as it is the only Dalit caste kept out of the list of the Mahadalits, who received sops galore from the Nitish government in its previous term.

The government will purchase three decimals of land for each homeless family belonging to the backward castes, extremely backward castes and the Dusadhs, or provide up to Rs 20,000 for the purpose. The decision was taken by the state cabinet this week. Sub-divisional officers have also been charged with the task of identifying government-owned land that could be distributed among the landless poor.

Until now, the homestead land acquirement policy benefited only the 21 Dalit castes that had been identified as ‘Mahadalits’ by a commission set up for the purpose by the Nitish government.

But the policy has now been extended to landless people from other communities. The latest move is likely to benefit at least 1.5 lakh people in the state.

The scheme is being seen in political circles as Nitish’s effort to further consolidate his base among the most backward sections of the society, which had backed him to the hilt in the assembly polls.

JD (U) spokesperson Sanjay Singh said this was a historic step, which would go a long way in empowering the underprivileged sections of the society. The government’s move is intended to mollify the dominant Paswan community in the state.