Benti land far from Raghuraj's reach?

LUCKNOW: Can the state government hand over the 110-acre Benti farmland to food and civil supplies minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh? Under existing laws and circumstances, it cannot. The Benti land had been taken over from the Kunda's first family by the Mayawati government when Raghuraj and his father both were in jail. This now forms part of a 727-hectare Bhimrao Ambedkar bird sanctuary, notified in 2003. A senior forest official told The Times of India that the state government had started the process of denotifying large chunks of gram sabha land and surplus ceiling land which had been in the possession of Raghuraj and his associates for over 23 years. But an amendment incorporated in 2003 in the Wildlife Act of 1972 states that the boundary of any wildlife sanctuary could be altered or changed only by the National Wildlife Board of which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is the chairman. Before this amendment, the state legislature had the power to alter the sanctuary's boundary. In 1999, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had stated in its report that the 110-hectare multipurpose horticulture farm at Benti in Pratapgarh had been illegally occupied and cultivated by 'an influential' person since 1980. The then district magistrate had directed the then SSP after a gap of about 11 years to get the property vacated, but no action had been taken till March 1999, the report had stated. Though the CAG had valued the property at Rs 1.10 crore, forest officials had estimated it to be of much higher value. In 1999, the government had said that the land could not be acquired due to non-cooperation of district authorities, the CAG report had further stated. Meanwhile, special secretary, forest, Pawan Kumar, asked about the possibility of the government handing over the Benti farmland to the Raguraj family, said that such matters were decided at higher level.