AP Govt will not enforce Land Acquisition Act

• Land pooling scheme will be taken forward, says Deputy CM K E Krishnamurthy
• ‘Suggested to the Chief Minister that no pressure should be exerted on farmers to part with their lands’
• ‘It is imperative that the government should talk to farmers’
• ‘I rejected the offer to lead Cabinet sub-committee on capital region’

Rajahmundry: Deputy Chief Minister K E Krishnamurthy has made it clear that the state government will not enforce land acquisition act, but only go in for land pooling scheme in the capital region consisting of three mandals in Guntur district. Land should be acquired from those farmers who were willing to part with their lands, he said.

“I have suggested to the Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu that no pressure should be exerted on farmers,” he said, while addressing a media conference here on Sunday. It was imperative to talk to 13,000 farmers in Thulluru mandal and other areas which were proposed to be capital region, he asserted.

Responding to the criticism by the Left parties over the State government seeking help from Singapore government for building capital city, the Minister recalled that France had extended its cooperation in building capital city in Chandigarh. He expressed the hope that the process of land pooling would be completed by 2016.

Krishnamurthy confirmed that he had refused to lead the Cabinet sub-committee on land pooling as he would not hurt the feeling of people in Kurnool district. The Chief Minister asked him to head the committee but he rejected the offer, he said.

The Minister denied that the government had ordered stopping of land registration process anywhere in the State, including capital region.

Revenue target for the department was fixed at Rs 3.404 crore and 70 per cent of it was already achieved by October, he said. Registration of lands would be made online soon.

He said the government within a short time had implemented several welfare programmes, including sanctioning of pension for retired Village Revenue Officers and Village Development Officers.

The government had decided to provide pension of Rs 1,000 to toddy tappers on reaching the age 50 years.