The land-for-jobs scam in Bihar is a case of alleged corruption and bribery involving the transfer of land plots to the family members of then Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in exchange for appointments to Group "D" posts in various railway zones between 2004 and 2009. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) initiated a preliminary investigation into the case in September 2021, and recently conducted searches at over two dozen places, including a mall under construction in Gurugram allegedly being developed by a company owned by Tejashwi Yadav, the deputy chief minister of Bihar and son of Lalu Prasad Yadav.
According to the CBI, some individuals hired by the Railways allegedly gave land plots as bribes to Lalu Prasad Yadav's wife Rabri Devi, his daughters Misa and Hema Yadav, and 12 other individuals who were given jobs in the Railway zones of Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur, and Hajipur. The substitutes for the Group "D" positions were allegedly substituted in "undue haste" by railway officials, and later regularized, "in place thereof the individuals themselves or their family members donated their land," according to the agency.
The CBI claims that Lalu Prasad Yadav took advantage of his position as the Railway Minister to transfer landed property into the names of his family members in exchange for appointments to Group "D" posts in various railway zones. The agency alleges that Lalu's family purchased over a lakh square feet of land in this manner for just Rs. 26 lakh, despite the fact that the land's actual value is estimated to be more than Rs. 4.39 crore.
The CBI has named 16 individuals in the FIR, including Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, and his daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav. Bhola Yadav, the former Officer on Special Duty of Lalu Prasad Yadav, was detained by the CBI earlier in July 2022 in connection with the case. The RJD has criticized the CBI raids and referred to them as vendetta politics by the BJP-led Centre.
In conclusion, the land-for-jobs scam in Bihar is a case of alleged corruption and bribery involving the transfer of land plots to the family members of then Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in exchange for appointments to Group "D" posts in various railway zones between 2004 and 2009. The CBI has named several individuals, including Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members, in the FIR and initiated a preliminary investigation into the case in September 2021. The recent searches conducted by the agency are part of the ongoing investigation into the alleged scam.
