Odisha: CAG draft report finds irregularities in SC/ST land sale

AOutline scrutinise cover from the Comptroller and Auditor superior general of bharat on the sale of land belonging to members of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) communities in Odisha has found that in one-third of the cases, sub-collectors allowed the sale of land on medical emergency grounds even as the state government ran a state-sponsored health insurance scheme.The audit, covering the period from 2018 to 2023, found that revenue officials in three sub-divisions—Sonepur, Birmaharajpur, and Kendrapara—systematically violated legal safeguards designed to protect marginalised landowners from exploitation. HT has reviewed the draft report.Under Section 22(1) of the Odisha Land Reforms (OLR) Act, 1960, land owned by SC or ST individuals cannot be sold or gifted to a non-SC/ST person without express permission from a sub-collector to protect the interests of SC/ST persons.Of the 1,287 cases involving the transfer of 661.073 acres (ST-104.808 acres and SC - 556.265 acres) that happened in the three sub-divisions during that period, the audit team checked 528 cases, of which 335 cases involving nearly 379 acres were found to be “irregular”.Of the 335 irregular cases, the sub-collectors permitted the sale of 120.70 acres in 111 cases for medical treatment. “While the Government of Odisha provided universal free healthcare through the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, offering coverage of up to ₹5 lakh and ₹10 lakh for women, such coverage rendered the sale of land for medical treatment an invalid pretext,” the draft report noted. Auditors found that in 86 of these cases, there were no records or documents to verify the legitimacy of the medical need.HT reached out to state revenue and disaster management department but did not receive a reply. The report will be updated once they respond.CAG officials said the responses received from the sub-collectors concerned would be incorporated in the final report.The sub-collector of Sonepur defended the actions, stating that permissions were granted on “genuine ground” and that the veracity of claims was inquired through local Tahasildars. CAG, however, said the reply was “not tenable”.The sale of SC/ST land to non-SC/ST persons for marriage and payment of loans was barred by the official guidelines issued in 1998. In 133 cases 160.355 acres were transferred for reasons including marriage, higher education, and house construction. In many instances, neither the applicants nor the investigating Tahasildars provided documentation to support these claims.Apart from this, 97.866 acres were transferred in 91 cases for “repayment of loans,” with no records detailing the loan amounts, purposes, or outstanding balances. In Sonepur, the sub-collector reportedly granted permissions based solely on self-affidavits from the applicants.The OLR Act requires that after a sale, the SC/ST applicant must retain a “minimum of one standard acre” of land to ensure their family’s moderate means of sustenance. The audit identified at least 17 instances in which the residual land fell below this survival threshold. Furthermore, permission was granted for the alienation of joint landholdings, in direct contravention of existing regulations.The audit also found that SC/ST landowners may have been used as “conduits” for third parties, as 71 cases were identified in which land was purchased from SC/ST persons and resold to non-SC/ST persons within just one year. “As officials made no effort to ascertain if the sellers were acting on behalf of others, the possibility of using SC/ST individuals to facilitate illegal land sales... Cannot be ruled out,” the report said.