Bhopal:

An old man in a rugged and worn-out dhoti, rolling on the floor of the Collectorate office with folded hands, and repeating, “What should we do now?” with officers and visitors looking on. Filmed inside the Collectorate office in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur, the video shows a distressed farmer appealing against the illegal occupation of his land by a local mafia.

The farmer, Shankarlal, alleged that despite multiple complaints, no action has been taken, prompting him to roll in the halls of the Collectorate to draw attention.

मंदसौर के बुजुर्ग किसान हैं, कहते हैं कहीं सुनवाई नहीं हो रही आरोप है कि ज़मीन फर्जी दस्तावेजों के जरिये कुछ लोगों ने हड़प ली है … कलेक्टर दफ्तर से यूं निराश होकर लौटे … pic.twitter.com/bpAHfHp2NH

— Anurag Dwary (@Anurag_Dwary) July 17, 2024

Expressing his frustration, Shankarlal said: “I am troubled by the land mafia. The Tehsildar makes a mistake, and the farmer suffers. They make the mistake, and I suffer the consequences. I am unhappy with the government and the administration. The officers here are corrupt. We are so troubled… farmers are being cheated.”

Speaking about the incident, District Magistrate Dilip Yadav said, “All the cases that come in the public hearing are resolved immediately.” 

Many people attended the hearing on Tuesday, and their issues were heard and addressed as possible, he said, adding that the cases from the previous public hearings were also reviewed.

The local administration clarified that the complainant had maintained possession of the disputed land. Presently, Shankar and his family hold the land. Half of the land previously sold by sharecroppers has not been taken over by the buyer, it said.

According to the investigation report submitted by the Tehsildar based on documents provided by the local administration, in Sukhad village, area number 604, there are 2.5 hectares of land, and survey number 625 comprises 1.01 hectares. 

This land is held jointly by Shankarlal and his family – Anokhilal, Bhagwan Bhai, and Resham Bhai, sons of Phoolchand, along with Baba Ghasiram, Karu Lal, Ramlal, Prabhu Lal, Mangi Bai, and Parvati Bai, children of Ghati. 

Half of this land was sold to one Ashwin, the son of Narayan Rao a resident of Mandsaur, as per a sale deed dated December 31, 2010. The transfer of the said land was approved by the then Tehsildar, Sitamau, in the 2010-11 transfer register. However, the sold land remains in the possession of Karu Lal, Ramlal, Prabhu Lal, Mangi Bai, and Parvati Bai, who are unwilling to hand it over to Ashwin.