Raising the matter of land acquisition by different departments in the tribal Dindori district, Omkar Singh Markam (Congress) said he wanted to know from the government how much land was acquired by it and alleged that in many cases land was acquired without the consent of the tribals.
Replying to the question, state Revenue Minister Karan Singh Verma admitted that "land was acquired forcibly in some cases" but the tribals were compensated, as per the government's Rehabilitation and Resettlement policy by giving plots and compensation.
Intervening in the matter, Leader of Opposition Ajay Singh and Bisahu Lal Singh, also of Congress, demanded to know whether alternate land was given to tribals under Schedule five, and if yes, then they demanded from the Minister to name the specific village where they were provided land.
Bisahu Lal Singh also said that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had earlier announced on the floor of the House that Rs five lakh compensation will be given to the affected persons in case their land was acquired by the government but in this matter only Rs 40,000-50,000 was paid as compensation.
The Minister said that the issue of awarding compensation was going on since 2006 and still the process was on, but failed to give the specific answer that in which village land was provided to the farmers.
When the Opposition insisted on naming the village, the Minister said that he will inform them after taking necessary information in this regard, following which Ajay alleged that," the government was insensitive towards tribals" and staged a walkout.