Communist Party of India (CPI) Telangana State Council has demanded the Telangana State government to conduct comprehensive land survey immediately and implement land reforms and give three acre land to the daliths and tribals as assured during the elections.
The CPI leaders Chada Venkat Reddy, Palla Venkat Reddy, Siddi Venkateshwarlu, Telangana State Rythu Sangam general secretary Pashya Padma met the Deputy Chief Minister Mahmood Ali and submitted a memorandum to him demanding for the change of revenue Acts.
In their memorandum, CPI leaders stated that the revenue Acts for Telangana and Andhra regions were different even after 1956. But after the introduction of new economic policies and privatization, liberalization and globalization, land has become a business commodity in the hands of businessmen. The brokers named it as ‘real estate’ business and it spread like a virus from gully to Delhi. The brokers’ problem has increased like anything. The brokers started registration of the lands by encroaching the government and shikam lands. The revenue department, land boundaries, records and other systems have become an address for the irregularities. Due to this affect, the SCs, STs, BCs, Small and Average farmers were affected in a big way. The above said people mentally and economically agonized by roaming around the police station, revenue department and courts for years. The Communist leaders have urged the Telangana government to recognize these problems immediately.
They said that the land survey took place in Telangana 85 years ago. The then government prepared records by setting up boundaries with the survey numbers and digging poles in the form of Nakshas and submitted the same to the Survey and Land Records Department.
Later several changes taken place in the land categorization. Due to assigning the lands to Daliths and tribals, the small plots have been evolved. The lands were further categorized as Inam Lands, Cheruvu Shikam Lands, Government Banjar lands, Nala Lands etc. The government has given Lavoni pattas to the poor by allotting Bandarai, Poramboku lands. The government didn’t enter them in to the records though they showed boundaries to them. The government has not given patta certificates to the poor though they were in Kasthu (possession). Due to this, the poor entered into disputes and they ran around police station, courts. The government entered bits (ABC) wise in one survey number and entered it in Pahani. But they were no borders in Tpen. There was no similarity in survey numbers patta land and its area.
The problems are—the government distributed lands and decided boundaries but not given pattas. At one place the government given pattas but not shown the limits. If the poor had patta and borders, the forest department was raising allegations that the land belong to forest land and not of revenue.
There were no similarities in existing land situation and the revenue records. The lakhs of farmers are facing serious troubles due to bad entry of details of land in records.
In every village of Telangana state, there were 100 to 200 land disputes and problems.
The lakhs of acres assigned to poor was encroached by others. Fifty percent of the land in tribal areas was in the hands of non-tribal. Their revenue records were filled with irregularities.
One has to know that the farmer should have full rights on the land only when the land was in cultivated by him, patta in his hand and the same was entered in records. In Telangana, the farmers have land but no patta. Some have patta but there is no land. Some of the farmers have land and patta and entered into the records with incorrect details and disturbed boundaries.
About 50 percent of the rural people have no agriculture land and they are daliths and tribal.
About six lakh families have no agriculture land in Telangana and even they didn’t have house site.
Earlier, Patel, Patwari maintained patta, pahani, no.4 registers separately and they entered the crop cultivated in every survey number. They also entered the farmers’ name when he purchased a land or sold his land.
The Telugu Desam government abolished the system and the same responsibilities were assigned to mandal officer and appointed four to five village revenue officers in every mandal. The government has not given proper training to the village revenue officers. They entered the details as they wished without examining the records. At this juncture, the government issued orders to give the pattedar pass books by imposing challan by examining in registration office and entering the details in 1B through Record of Rights (ROR). Using this, the revenue officers indulged in full of irregularities and gave pattedar pass books to the two farmers on one survey number. The revenue officials created disputes between the farmers and the same cases were still continuing at RDO and Joint Collector offices.
Presently, the banks were giving loans to the farmers only when they have computer pahani and 1B. The names are different in patta and in pahani when one examines the revenue office records.
The CPI leaders said that land survey was only solution to these problems.
The government has to conduct land survey and conduct grama sabhas and read the names of the farmers survey number wise. The revenue department has to solve the disputes immediately in grama sabhas only, and it has to serve notices to the farmers those who were not in village. The officials have to record the lands in the name of heirs in grama sabhas only, and decide the boundaries also. The government has to take back the assigned lands encroached by the private persons and assign them to the original beneficiaries. It has to distribute the government lands, ceiling lands to the daliths, tribal and most back wards classes, handicapped and economically back ward other castes.
The CPI leaders also demanded the government to complete the survey within one year. The government has to remove the clause of taking the assigned land at any time from the poor for the sake of public utility. It has to clear the disputes between revenue lands and forest lands within one year through tribunal; implement Forest Rights Act-2006; resolve the land disputes in grama sabhas or else in mobile courts going to the spot; and curb the landlords games in the name of binamies.
The grama sabhas have to conduct in summer only and clear the land disputes in grama sabhas and record the virasat in grama sabhas only.
The government has to take back the excess land in ceiling lands to curb the activities of land lords and enter it in the records, clear the disputes of land reforms cases through special drive and setting up special court bench.
The government has to implement Koneru Ranga Rao Committee recommendations, give pattas to the farmers who purchased lands through Sada binama. The categorization of patta lands to be done.
CPI leaders demanded that the government has to record every inch of land details in the records by clearing all disputes in grama sabhas. The government has to re-review the land acts existing now and make new acts to clear all land disputes now. For this the government has to prepare a comprehensive bill and pass it in Legislative Assembly to put a full stop to the disputes of farmers of villages and keep them in peace.
The CPI leaders stated that they also sent the copy to the Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. (NSS)