"There is neither employment nor there is any job opportunity in Jharkhand which has left the people to depend on their land for sustenance, triggering resistance against land acquisition," Sahay told reporters here.
To a media query on the controversy over Nagari land acquisition that already witnessed violence on July 4 and a state-wide bandh on July 25, Sahay termed it as "a sense of insecurity to eke out a living" which has forced the people to protest against acquisition.
Claiming that several people are still running from "pillar to post" to get compensation after parting with land, the minister alleged that people had been pushed into the "morass of backwardness" in the last 12 years, leading to such disputes.
The villagers of Nagari on the outskirts of Ranchi have been protesting against the setting up of an education hub.