– My justice yatra will continue till I die in the hunger strike- Bambodkar
Nagpur :- Indian culture has a tradition of giving utmost respect to the elderly. In view of the respect for them in the society, the Maharashtra government has also started the Amrit Jyeshtha Nagrik Yojana, under which citizens above 75 years of age have free travel facility in government buses. The government has even started a pilgrimage scheme for elderly citizens, under which they are provided free travel to various pilgrimage sites in ST buses. But the administration of the same government has become so ruthless that it has not been able to do justice to the citizens who have been fighting for their judicial rights for the last 45 years. For this reason, 81-year-old Vishwanath Bambodkar has started his Sangharsh Nyay Yatra by starting a hunger strike at his home. But no government representative has even reached to inquire about his well-being. The reason for starting this Sangharsh Nyay Yatra is those 281 families who have been living in houses built for 45 years in Nagar Bhumaksha No. 750 and 753 of Mauja Binaki in North Nagpur, who were eligible for registration but the Nagar Bhumaksha Officer flatly refused to get their registration done. 81-year-old Vishwanath Bambodkar tells that Dwarkaprasad Bansidhar Chaudhary had bought a field and had put a layout in it and submitted it to NIT for plan approval. When NIT issued a demand note and asked to deposit the amount, Chaudhary did not complete the process. Later in 1979, Chaudhary formed a society called Layout for Weaker Section of Society and gave possession to people and citing the rules of the Ceiling Act, sold 281 plots without registration and also gave an indication letter on stamp paper. The list of those to whom the plots were sold was submitted to the Revenue Department. On the basis of this list, the revenue department converted the land into non-agricultural land and collected the amount including 7 years’ arrears and penalty from the plot holders in the year 1986-87. The Mahanagar Palika also started collecting property tax from the plot holders on this basis.
Bambodkar tells that later in the year 2007-08, the Maharashtra government abolished the ceiling law. Due to this, now the permission of the Divisional Commissioner is not required for registration. So people approached the plot seller Dwarkaprasad Chaudhary and requested him to get the registration done. On this, Chaudhary citing his old age said that I cannot walk, so I have given power of attorney to my son Rajesh. Talk to him. When people talked to the son, he put a condition that you have to pay the rate according to the current price of the land, only then will I register it. People were stunned to hear this. One year after this, Dwarka Prasad passed away in 2009 and with his death, the power of attorney given to his son expired.
Now, under the leadership of Bambodkar, those who were building houses on the plot decided to pay the outstanding stamp duty to the government and in the year 2011, by making a request in the office of the Joint District Registrar and Stamp Officer, deposited the stamp amount along with the late fee and got their signature impounded by the Joint Registrar.
After this, when people went to get the mutation done, the city land records (land survey) officer rejected their application saying that bring the heir of the deceased (Choudhary).
Finally, Bambodkar appealed against the city land survey officer in the Revenue Court (tribunal). On appeal, the court accepted the argument of the applicants on 15 November 2011 and ordered for changes. Despite this, the city land survey officer kept procrastinating. Bambodkar tells that a complaint regarding this was sent to the Revenue Ministry through the District Magistrate. The District Magistrate sent a letter to the Land Survey Officer and asked for a report but unfortunately the said officer Satish Hanumant Pawar had been transferred. Now the new officer is not able to understand how to give the report. In this way, this struggle of the elderly got stuck here due to the short-sightedness of the administration and they started feeling helpless. Finally, Bambodkar decided that instead of pleading before such an administration of an unjust and corrupt king, it is better to die by fasting till death. That is why he has continued his fast by giving up food and water for the last five days. It remains to be seen how much importance this government, which provides free pilgrimages to the elderly, gives to the justice journey of an 81-year-old man like Bambodkar.
