The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : No meeting point on extent of surplus lands

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 20, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

No meeting point on extent of surplus lands

By M. Malleswara Rao

HYDERABAD, OCT. 19. Land distribution may hold the key to ending left wing extremism but the task is not going to be easy. Confusion prevails even today over the extent of land available for the purpose.

Official figures about the surplus lands are vastly at variance with the ones quoted by the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and naxalite parties. These figures, finalised after several surveys, put the total land available for distribution at 4.69 lakh acres under five categories -- Government, surplus under the AP Land Reforms Act 1973, the stretches under the Bhoodan Act and Endowments and Inam lands. The figure quoted by the Left parties, including naxalites, is 84.2 lakh acres, nearly 17 times higher.

Records talk

As per the official records, the Government has so far distributed 43.8 lakh acres of its own land benefiting 36.1 lakh families, 5.8 lakh acres under the Land Reforms Act (5.2 lakh families), 1.1 lakh acres of Bhoodan land (43,653 ), 10.7 lakh acres of Inam lands (5 lakh) and 65,245 acres under the Land Purchase Scheme (54,450 ) being implemented by the SC Corporation.

An extent of 99,016 acres is stated as being still available under the first four categories apart from 3.7 lakh acres of Endowment lands. This, if distributed at the rate of two acres, will benefit only 2. 5 lakh families at the most. A large chunk of the landless population will still remain uncovered.

`Half-truths'

The Left parties, however, criticise the Government, dubbing these statistics "half truths" and blame it for ignoring the other categories -- forest, agriculture farmlands, canal `poramboke,' etc.

They quote a higher figure for the Government land and Ceiling categories at 60 lakh acres and 11.5 lakh acres respectively, and that of the forest and agriculture lands at 7 lakh acres and 2 lakh acres.

At a recent meeting convened by the Chief Minister, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the CPI and the CPI(M) pointed out that 70 per cent of the State's population lived in villages with 35 per cent of them being landless. They demanded immediate going ahead with land reforms as a panacea to socio-economic problems.

Useless sites

A problem confronted after distribution is the failure of beneficiaries to put the land to use. The lands were found to be barren and useless and required huge amounts for development. The beneficiaries either sold the land or landlords encroached them. Pattas were found in the name of the SCs/STs, but the lands were in the possession of landlords.

Among the measures contemplated to overcome these difficulties are cancellation of all the sales under the AP Assigned Lands Act of 1977 and Regulation I of 1970 and provision of compensation even to D-Form lands at market value and a 30 per cent solatium when acquired for public purpose. The Rs. 500-crore land development scheme, which is in the offing, too may give a boost to the development aspect.

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