Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao will kick of the distribution of pattas to tribals at Asifabad on 30 June.
Published Jun 25, 2023 | 10:44 AM ⚊ Updated Jun 25, 2023 | 10:44 AM
Telangana Chief Minister KCR will begin the process of distributing pattas to tribals on 30 June. (Twitter)
At long last, the Telangana government will begin distributing ownership documents, or pattas, to tribals who have been for decades into slash-and-burn cultivation on what are known as podu lands in forest areas.
Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao will formally inaugurate the distribution of the pattas on 30 June at Asifabad.
From the same day, ministers and MLAs in their respective districts and Assembly segments would begin distributing pattas to the eligible tribal podu farmers.
Though KCR had thought of kicking off the programme on 24 June, he could not get around to it.
He decided on the fresh date keeping in view the fact that the district collectors and police chiefs would be required to attend review meetings with a delegation of the Election Commission which is visiting the state for the next two days.
As Bakrid falls on 29 June, the chief minister will take up the distribution of podu pattas the next day, an official release said on Saturday, 24 June.
The distribution of podu pattas has been hanging fire ever since the formation of Telangana state.
The chief minister made promises on several occasions on this count. Just this year, he had announced that the pattas would be distributed by the end of February, but it did not happen. In March, he yet again said the pattas would be soon distributed.
The delay, officials said, was because there is ambiguity over which forest land is with the Forest Department and which is with the tribals with podu cultivation rights.
As a result of the ambiguity, there have been frequent clashes between Forest Department officials and the tribals over the ownership of the lands they have been cultivating.
In March, the chief minister had said that since the preparation of the patta books was more or less ready, he wanted the officials to get around to the work of distributing them. The officials had said that pattas for four lakh acres were ready for distribution to 1.55 lakh tribals.
In February, he spoke at length in the Assembly, stating that the government was seized of the issue and had worked out a plan for the distribution of podu land pattas.
The chief minister originally had a target for distributing 11.5 lakh acres of the total extent of the forest land which is about 66 lakh acres in the state. The Forest Department has already prepared reports on the availability of land that could be given to tribals for podu cultivation.
The icing on the cake is that after the distribution of podu land pattas, the podu farmers would automatically become eligible for Rythu Bandhu, a crop investment subsidy of ₹10,000 per acre per year. The lands would also be provided with power supply and irrigation facilities, the chief minister added.
He had also made an announcement that he would come out with Girijan Bandhu on the lines of Dalit Bandhu for the economic empowerment of the tribals who do not have land.
The caveat, however, is that, in return, they have to accept the responsibility of protecting the forests. They have to give a guarantee to the government in writing to this effect.
The chief minister had made it clear that after the distribution of podu lands, the felling of trees in non-podu areas in the forests should cease.
If it does not, the government would take severe action, including cancellation of the pattas issued to the the tribals.
Chandrasekhar Rao stressed that the protection of forests was important as it had a bearing on the environment.
He had termed as unfortunate that the Gutti Koyas, who migrated to Telangana from Chhattisgarh, were being encouraged to fell trees in the forests.
They were being incited into attacking the Forest Department officials, he contended.
He said it was deplorable that indiscriminate felling should continue at a time when, all over the world, forest cover and environment protection have become a priority.
