The Hindu : Front Page : Talks with Left on land issue fail

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Wednesday, Jul 04, 2007
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Talks with Left on land issue fail

Government adopting ‘delaying tactics’, say leaders

— PHOTO: K. RAMESH BABU

TICKLISH ISSUE: Revenue Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao in a meeting with Left party leaders in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

HYDERABAD: Talks between the Left parties and the Government on the land issue failed yet again as the latter refused to agree to the constitution of an independent land commission and appointment of an ombudsman to check alleged irregularities in housing programmes.

Alleging that the Government was adopting “delaying tactics” in implementing the recommendations of the Koneru Ranga Rao land committee, leaders of the Left parties said they would intensify their agitation to press the Government to take up distribution of land and house sites with immediate effect.

Emerging from their three-hour-long meeting with Revenue Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao here on Tuesday, the third after the first two meetings with Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy failed, the CPI and CPI (M) leaders said that the Government failed to respond positively to their demands.

CPI State secretary K. Narayana said the Government did not give specific assurance on their demand to take action against “large-scale deviations” in the Indiramma housing scheme where houses were being given to “ineligible” beneficiaries at the expense of genuine ones. The Minister also did not lend clarity to the demand for giving legal sanctity to Koneru Ranga Rao panel’s recommendations.

CPI (M) State secretary B.V. Raghavulu said that though the Minister admitted that amendments made to the Assignment Land Act were not helpful to poor, he failed to come out with specific proposals to rectify the lapse.

The Minister, however, said though the Government was not against accepting the Communist parties’ suggestion, it felt that there was no need to concede the demands in view of the ongoing land distribution programme and construction of houses. With the commencement of programme for construction of 24 lakh houses, against the 20 lakh planned in the entire country, the State stood as a role model for others.

Clear-cut policy

The Congress Government had also announced a clear-cut policy on housing programme and put in place mechanisms to check irregularities. “There is no scope for misunderstanding the Government’s commitment. The implementation of the land committee’s recommendations was delayed due to procedures involved,” he said.

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