Sarvodaya body seeks judicial probe into Bhoodan land scam

Basheerbagh: The Telangana Sarvodaya Mandali president R Shankar Nayak has demanded the State government to set up an inquiry commission with a high court sitting judge to look into the alleged Bhoodan land scandal worth hundreds of crores.

He said that the government was responsible for protecting and distributing thousands of acres of Bhoodan lands in the State secured by Acharya Vinoba Bhave as donations from rich landlords to benefit the poor.

At a press conference here on Sunday, Nayak stated that about 177,333 acres had been voluntarily handed over by rich landlords during the Bhoodan movement, of which the then government had distributed land to the poor to some extent. The present and the past governments neglected to give away more than one lakh acres.

He lamented that due to the government's 'indifference', thousands of acres of Bhoodan lands worth thousands of crores have been alienated in almost all districts of Telangana. "In 2014, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao set up a task force and appointed a retired IAS officer to inquire into Bhoodan lands and other government lands scams. It had submitted report to take strict action against land grabbers and seize lands," said Nayak.

Members of the All-India Sarva Seva Sangh were present.