Dainik Bhaskar group, one of the widely circulated newspaper groups of the country is in the middle of a controversy as it is summoned by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes for illegally grabbing the land meant for the scheduled tribes. The commission has issued the summon on 28th February 2022.
The income tax department had raided various offices of the Bhaskar group in July 2021. At that time, the group has called it to be an attempt to crush and curb the freedom of the press, but what has appeared to the surface now is far different than this claim. The offices of the Bhaskar newspaper group were not raided. These raids were meant for other sectors the Bhaskar group operates in.
Big Breaking : Dainik Bhaskar Group is accused of illegally grabbing land meant for Scheduled Tribes in Janjgir of Chattisgarh. National Commission For Scheduled Tribes to look further into this matter. pic.twitter.com/EeeIjD5jqR
— Ashish (@aashishNRP) March 6, 2022
It is notable here that the Dainik Bhaskar group is not limited to just the newspapers but is involved in some other sectors as well. These sectors include real estate, textiles, and the power sector. The investigations after these raids have revealed that the Dainik Bhaskar group has illegally grabbed land for the power plant whereas the land was actually of the scheduled tribes. The national commission for scheduled tribes had also received a complaint regarding the same.
According to a report by Asia Net News Hindi, the company of this group that operates in the power sector is called DB Power Limited. This company is accused of fraud in the purchase of land for setting up a power plant in the Janjagir-Champa district of Chhattisgarh. Dainik Bhaskar group had employed a local agent for land purchase. He first purchased the land from the tribal people at cheap rates.
According to the regulations, when a tribal person purchases land from another tribal person, he need not take any permission. But if an outsider wishes to buy any land from a tribal person, it is a must for him to take permission from the district collector.
It is reported that the Dainik Bhaskar group first asked the employed agent to buy the land from the tribal people at cheap rates. He later sold the land to the Dainik Bhaskar group. In between, the Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development Corporation acquired a major part of the land which it later gave to the DB Power Limited. This was the extra land needed for setting up a power plant here. Who else was involved in this land deal is subject to further investigation.
The national commission for scheduled tribes received a complaint regarding this. The commission then issued a notice to the revenue secretary of the Chhattisgarh state and the managing director of the Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development Corporation. None of them responded to the notice. The SP and DM of the Janjagir-Champa district were also given the same notice. But they did not satisfactorily respond to the commission. The commission has now summoned the SP and the DM of Janjagir-Champa district to be present on 8th March 2022 and furnish their explanation.
