Hyderabad, December 27: Several speakers have said that “right to land” still continued to be near the heart of many people in the country even 60 years after the Constitution came into being. They stressed on the need to preserve the common man’s title to land at a symposium on “Land Rights and Development” held here on Sunday.
The symposium was organised by the Liberty Institute, New Delhi in association with the Forum for Good Governance at Hyderabad Study Circle.
Speaking on the occasion, the chief guest Justice A Lakshman Rao, former chief justice of Allahabad High Court, said that even 60 years after attaining independence, land continues to be the most crucial factor since land, being the only source of livelihood for about 65 to 70 per cent of the people in the country. He also said that instead of being labourers, many people still want to take some land on lease and cultivate, because agriculture was still being treated as a dignified profession. The demand for land from a small farmer to an industrialist is the same and due to this the small farmers were continued to be stripped of their small portions of land.
Pointing out problems of the people engaged in the agrarian sector, Justice Lakshman Rao said that there was a leadership vacuum among the people and they could not pressurise the government to get their demands met. Stating that over the last three and four years the woes of farmers were increasing, he noted that awareness among the people about the need to preserve the title to land is imperative.
Dr Y Shivaji, former MP, speaking on the problems persistent with land in Hyderabad city, said that it was the only capital city in the country where large tracts of land were under the government’s control. Referring to the issue of Housing Board, he said that during the 60s and 70s, the Central government employees were allotted houses at various places on payment of installments. But later they were taken away and converted into complexes. Noting that since the liberalisation in the early nineties the land laws in the State made very rigid in comparison to other parts of the country, he said that some thousands of acres of land was bestowed upon influential sections at the cost of lower middle class people.
Mr Baron Mitra, Director, Liberty Institute, said that at present the common man started recognising the importance of preserving the right to land, which was not so over the last 60 years. He noted that the leftist government in West Bengal was now on the verge of defeat as it miscalculated on land rights. He said that 1977 was a landmark in the history of our democracy because a change of government took place through democratic means. He also maintained that no democratic country can afford to survive if it fails to recognise the value of right to land.
Prof. P Narayana Reddy, CBIT and Dr B Yerram Raju, Regional Director, PRIMA, also spoke.
NSS