The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Panel to be set up for land distribution

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 03, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Panel to be set up for land distribution

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, AUG. 2. The Government is likely to set up a commission/committee to go into the issue of distribution of surplus lands to the landless poor, a demand consistently raised by left parties.

After two hours of discussions by the Chief Minister, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, with representatives of the CPI and the CPI-(M) in his office on land issues, the Revenue Minister, D. Prasada Rao, announced to reporters on Monday that the Government was "seriously considering" formation of a committee or commission consisting of retired IAS officials well-versed in this `social issue' and officials known for their commitment. The panel would be asked to make recommendations for distribution of various categories of surplus lands and ensure the implementation of these recommendations. It would be vested with the necessary powers for both functions.

The Minister said the Government would hold discussions with other political parties as well - the Telugu Desam, the BJP and the TRS within the next few days before finalising the framework for the committee. These parties were not called for today's meeting because they held different views on the land issues which were at variance with the communist ideology.

Laws to be amended

Mr. Prasada Rao said the Government would amend the laws wherever required for allotting surplus lands to the poor, which was a measure dear to Congress Governments. Four categories of lands were available now--Government surplus lands, surplus chunks under the Land Ceiling Act, Endowment lands and waste forest tracts. They would be properly identified and distributed to the landless poor without prejudice against those who were in possession. According to details given by the Minister, the surplus lands under these categories measured about 4 lakh acres which poorly compared to 60 lakh acres specified by the parties at the meeting.

At the meeting earlier, the CPI-(M) and CPI teams, led by B. V. Raghavulu, S. Sudhakar Reddy, both State secretaries respectively, and Koratala Satyanarayana, a senior Communist leader, made a forceful plea for distribution, citing its inclusion in the CMP of the United Progressive Alliance. They deplored that revenue officials were `insensitive' to the land reforms/distribution for their own interests and wanted the Chief Minister to motivate them first.

Plea against police role

They referred to the Ongole incident recently as an example, saying the officials had refused to meet the demands of SC agitators first but complied all of them after a suicide. Another demand made was for avoiding police interference in land distribution cases in tune with a GO issued during Indira Gandhi's time.

The Communist leaders suggested allotment of 5 acres each to toddy-tapper and sheep-rearing families for growing trees and grazing the domesticated animals.

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