If the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government has its way, several Dalit farmers of Amaravati capital region, who had given away their assigned lands under land pooling for the construction of capital might lose the plots allotted to them as part of the agreement with the erstwhile AP capital region development authority (APCRDA).
According to reports in a section of media, the government has issued notices to around 50 farmers, who had been allotted residential and commercial plots allotted by the then Telugu Desam Party government in lieu of the assigned lands given for the capital construction under land pooling.
Notices are also being given to those who had purchased assigned lands from Dalits at lesser rate, gave them away to the government under land pooling and in return, were allotted residential and commercial plots in the prime areas of Amaravati.
All the Dalit farmers who were allotted plots and all those who had bought the assigned lands of Dalits and got the plots allotted were asked to give explanation within 15 days as to why their residential and commercial plots should not be taken back for violation of the assigned lands norms.
As per the norms, the government lands assigned to Dalits for cultivation should not be sold or purchased. If it happens, the government has powers to cancel the assignment and take them back.
However, during the construction of capital city at Amaravati, the then Chandrababu Naidu government issued an order (GO No. 41) lifting these restrictions on assigned lands and enabling the Dalit farmers to sell their lands, so that the government could acquire them for the capital city under land pooling.
Some of the Dalit farmers had sold away their lands to the private people for their financial needs and some others surrendered their lands to the government in lieu of which they were allotted residential and commercial plots.
The Jagan government, which took over in May 2019, cancelled this GO and issued another order (GO No. 316), reiterating that sale and purchase of assigned lands was illegal.
It suspected that many TDP leaders had purchased lands from Dalit farmers by threatening them as part of the insider trading and initiated an ACB inquiry into it.
However, the state high court and later the Supreme Court struck down the case, ruling out insider trading.
Yet, the Jagan government is firm on proving the irregularities in the purchase of assigned lands by the TDP leaders. The latest show-cause notices to Dalit farmers are believed to be part of this strategy.
However, the Dalit farmers are lamenting that they had sold away their lands only as per the GO No. 41 of the previous government and surrendered their lands to the government for the capital city. So, their plots cannot be taken back.
Moreover, no farmer had lodged a complaint with the authorities that their plots were forcibly bought by others.
“It appears we have to face yet another legal battle with the government,” a local farmer said.
