2008-11-06 13:37:30

Tribals Hail Court Decision on Land Mortgages


(November 6, 2008) Local Church people have welcomed a decision by Jharkhand state's High Court allowing tribal people to mortgage their land for bank loans. Father Ignace Topno, vicar general of Ranchi archdiocese, India, said that the Church welcomes the resolution of a controversy that has agitated the state's millions of tribal people for more than a year, reported UCA News. The Oraon tribal priest explained to UCA News on Oct. 30 that Jharkhand's tribal residents are basically farmers who have nothing but their land to offer as security to get bank loans for various needs. On Oct. 25, the state's High Court ruled that tribal people and dalit can mortgage their land to obtain educational and housing loans from government-managed banks. Dalit, meaning "trampled upon" in Sanskrit, denotes people formerly called "untouchables" at the bottom of India's traditional caste system. A two-judge bench nullified a circular the state government issued on July 30, 2007, barring tribal people from mortgaging their land for bank loans. At the time, state officials claimed the move was in line with earlier laws barring outsiders from taking over tribal land, but the 19-page judgment termed the government order "arbitrary" and "unjustified" in depriving tribal people of their right to property and development. Father Topno pointed out the government order had shattered many tribal students' dreams of higher education. "We welcome the Jharkhand High Court's ruling. The state government's controversial circular had made tribal people restive," he said. The decision is welcomed by all dioceses and by the tribal leaders in the North- Eastern States.







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