Andhra Pradesh - Anantapur   

Land reforms have failed in State: Narayana

ANANTAPUR: The land reforms introduced by late P.V. Narasimha Rao in the State in the late 1960s had failed to take firm roots till date as the Revenue Department and the successive governments in power had not responded positively to the cause, State secretary of Communist Party of India (CPI) said here on Thursday.

Speaking on ‘Present politics and the role of CPI’ as part of the party’s 20th district congress, he said the parties at helm in the State had neither shown any concern for the peasants nor concentrated on the land distribution all through.

The present government was not willing to appoint a committee to oversee the implementation of recommendations of a committee appointed by it.

The Koneru Ranga Rao Committee had recommended several good measures on the land distribution but there were hurdles aplenty in giving land for the poor, while the government was presenting huge extents of lands to the corporate and industrial sectors on a platter without any hassle, he observed. About 70 lakh acres land was available for distribution among the poor in the State, he noted. He ridiculed the ruling party’s talk that Left parties were engaged in the land struggle only for the sake of publicity and said fighting for the poor was not new to them. He vowed that ‘bhoo poratam’ would be intensified after the State congress of their party in Tirupati soon.

Spiralling prices of essential commodities had burdened the lives of the poor badly. Coupled with rising unemployment, the privatisation of education and health sectors was playing havoc with the lives of the poor, he alleged. The CPI would plan raiding godowns to bring down the prices.

Comparing Congress and TDP led by Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and N. Chandrababu Naidu, respectively, to the two sides of the same coin he accused both of not allowing the third front to take shape in the State. However, the situation was demanding a political alternative to the two parties as the people were losing faith in them, Mr. Narayana observed.

The CPI was of the view that the time was ripe for formation of a political alternative and the increasing desire of different sections of the society to make it to the law-making bodies was a clear indication in that direction.

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Land reforms have failed in State: Narayana

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