Hyderabad, May 02: The state government has decided to go in for the sixth phase of land distribution in the state. The fifth phase of the programme is coming to a close tomorrow. Chief minister K Rosaiah will participate in the valedictory of the fifth-phase programme at Nellore tomorrow.
Rosaiah made the announcement on the next phase of land distribution at a review meeting he held with chief secretary SV Prasad, revenue minister D Prasada Rao and municipal administration and urban development (MA&UD) minister A Ramanarayana Reddy here today.
He told the chief secretary that he had information that land was available, particularly in Rayalaseema and Telangana, for distribution to the landless poor and asked the revenue minister to make suitable arrangements for the next phase.
“Land distribution was one of the dream programmes of former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, a visionary who aimed to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.’’ Rosaiah launched the fifth phase of the of land distribution programme at Shadnagar in Mahboobnagar district on April 14, the birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar.
He said the government distributed 7.09 lakh acres of land to 5.04 beneficiaries in the fifth phase.
Each family was given two-and-ahalf acres of wet land or five acres of dry land including the land originally held by the family. “Care was taken to ensure that at least 50 per cent of the beneficiaries belonged to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other deprived classes.
To ensure that the landless do not fall prey to landgrabbing all such land pattas were given in the name of the woman of the family.’’ Rosaiah asked the officials to simultaneously take up programmes to help the farmer to transform the distributed land into cultivable land making use of the provision of NREGS, input subsidies for seeds and fertilisers besides Pavala Vaddi loans towards agricultural credit, Indiramma housing, health care under Aarogyasri and pensions.
“The goal is to ensure that the saturation level of development is achieved up to the village level by providing a piece of land to all the landless and protecting th rural poor against debttrap, averting farmers’ suicides and making them active partners in the development mission,’’ the chief minister said.
The government had Rs 599 crore since 2004 under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) schemes to develop 3.49 lakh acres of land distributed to the landless poor.
——Agencies