The Hindu : Front Page : Title deeds to be given to tribal people in Wayanad

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 13, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

Title deeds to be given to tribal people in Wayanad

Special Correspondent

No cut in funds allotted to local bodies: Achuthanandan

KOZHIKODE: Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan has said that landless tribal people who had encroached upon Government land in Wayanad and a few other places as part of their agitation will soon be given possession certificates and title deeds.

He was speaking at a Meet-the-Press programme at the Kozhikode Press Club here on Monday.

The Chief Minister said all cases registered against tribal people in connection with these agitations, except those related to the stir by the Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha (AGM) at Muthanga in the Wayanad wildlife sanctuary, would be withdrawn.

Nearly 3,000 Adivasis had been arrested and booked for various offences in connection with their agitation for land rights. The CPI(M)-led Adivasi Skhema Samiti (AKS) is also leading the agitation.

To a question on why the Adivasi agitators involved in the Muthanga agitation, led by C. K. Janu, were not given the same treatment, Mr. Achuthanandan said the offences charged against them were different. A tribal and a policeman had been killed in incidents related to the agitation, and hence the cases charged in connection with the Muthanga agitation were more "complicated," he said.

The Chief Minister said it had been decided to give title deeds and possession certificates to tribal people in Wayanad, as in the Government's perception, "that land had not been seized by tribal people, as their critics alleged." Mr. Achuthanandan, who was on his first visit to Kozhikode after becoming the Chief Minister, said those behind the attack on mediapersons at the Calicut airport during a reception accorded to the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader P. K. Kunhalikutty would be brought to book. The Chief Minister reiterated the Government's resolve to seek more help from the Centre for farmers in the State. He said the Government had already sought an appointment with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to apprise him of the gravity of the problem.

A delegation of the Planning Commission that had visited the State to study farmers' suicides had informed the State Government that it had gathered enough information for a proper understanding of the problem.

He said the Government had already initiated a series of steps to help the farmers. Talks would continue with heads of banks to persuade them to announce more relief to farmers in distress, Mr. Achuthanandan said.

There would be also measures "to keep a check on private money lenders who charged exorbitant interest rates."

Answering questions, Mr. Achuthanandan defended the LDF Government's decision not to reduce local taxes on petrol and diesel as a few other State Governments had done.

He said such measures would not make a difference to the hardship caused by the hike in prices of these commodities. He said the Union Government should roll back the price hike in petroleum products. Later, at a reception accorded to him by the Kozhikode Corporation, he said there would not be any cut in the fund allotted to local self-Government institutions such as Corporations, municipalities and panchayats. The sum allotted in the State Budget to be disbursed to local self-Government bodies would be provided to them. "The LDF Government has been bequeathed an impoverished treasury by the former Government. But the financial crunch would not in any way affect the flow of legitimate funds to the local bodies," he said.

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