Andhra Pradesh - Ongole   

Many dalit families occupy ‘encroached’ land

ONGOLE: Some 100 dalit families have benefited in Ammanabrole village near here, thanks to the rift between an upper caste landlord and some upper caste families over 53 acres of land for the last 30 years.

The dalit families occupied the land on Friday with the tacit support of the landlord after successfully evicting the “encroachers.”

It was stated that the land belonged to Chakravarthula Lakshmana Rao alias Lakshmana Das. But some persons of another upper caste Jagarlamudi Haribabu, Korantla Seshaiah and others allegedly encroached upon the land and cultivating it for the last 20 years without paying any lease to the landlord.

Unable to retrieve the land from them, Mr. Lakshmana Das sought the help of Ongole MLA Balineni Srinivasa Reddy to sell the land to the Scheduled Castes Finance Corporation for distribution of the same to dalit families. He wrote a letter to Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy giving his consent to sell away the land.

The district Collector asked the Mandal Revenue Officer to send proposals for acquiring the land from Mr. Lakshmana Das. The “encroachers” tried to delay the process by raising a dispute over the title.

In this background, Tella Manoj Kumar rallied 100 dalit families to occupy the land. They made a representation to the Collector during Jagjivan Ram birth anniversary celebrations held at Ongole recently. Mr. Lakshmana Das too expressed his willingness to give away the land to dalits on six years lease.

Mr. Manoj Kumar and other dalit families today made a bid to occupy the land. They faced stiff resistance from the upper caste families who enlisted the support of the police to thwart their attempts. Undeterred, the dalit families entered the land, removed weeds and sowed seeds.

Mr. Manoj Kumar appealed to the upper caste families to show consideration to the dalit families. He produced the lease deed executed by Mr. Lakshmana Das in favour of the dalits. The agitators continued dharna till 5 p.m.

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Many dalit families occupy ‘encroached’ land

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