Govt may invoke Land Acquisition Act

• Farmers still spiritedly resisting govt move to ‘snatch’ their farm property
• Many fear family disputes may arise over sharing of meagre compensation to be paid in return for the lands
• Agriculturists send scores of letters to Narendra Modi
• Says that the Chief Minister is scheming to do real estate business with their lands

Guntur: The initial euphoria among farmers in Thulluru region, who have been traditional TDP voters, appears to be waning. They face uncertain prospect of life without green fields, family disputes arising over property sharing by joint families looming large over them, resulting in poor progress of land pooling.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's call to farmers to give their consent letters by Sankranti for 30,000 acres of farm lands had a few takers for several reasons. As a result, the 'operation land pooling' is moving at a snail's pace. During the past two weeks, the government, despite releasing the notification for the land pooling in villages, failed to get the consent letters even for 5,000 acres. Things are also going slow even in Thulluru where a majority of farmers expressed their desire to give lands.

While farmers in Thulluru region are favourably inclined to part with their lands, Mangalagiri and Tadepalli mandal farmers are reluctant and not responding to the pleas of the government despite the land pooling notifications. Farmers of Undavalli village in Tadepalli are not inclined to part with their lands, even after the government declared a revised economic package.

Somusetty Sathyanarayana, a farmer of Undavalli village, asks ‘What more can the government give than what we already have. We are prosperous, economically well settled. Our lands are what we give as legacy to next generation. We are living in close proximity to Vijayawada city. If the government simply snatches away our lands it can never supplement what we have today, prosperity and security. We will not give, but if the government takes it by force we will fight back,’ he stated in disillusionment.

Despite the government being doubly armed with the latest Central amendment of the Land Acquisition Act, it is reluctant to use it against farmers fearing political fallout.

However, the government, euphoric over the capital city building project-- both prestigious and crucial for Naidu's image as the builder of a high-tech capital city in the country -- is said to be only thinking of using land acquisition as the last option.

In Mangalagiri mandal no farmers of the seven designated capital city villages responded to land pooling. In Neerukonda, Navuluru, Krishnayyapalem and Kuragallu, consent letters were given for a mere 1,000 acres, while none came forward to give land in Nidamarru, Bethapudi and Yerrabalem.

In Thulluru mandal, 179 farmers gave consent letters for 339 acres. Farmers in Thulluru, who are basically favourable, have many apprehensions and are unsure of how to handle the joint family disputes arising out of the unsatisfactory package. Also, several revenue issues relating to their lands are dogging the farmers. They are in the dark about their bank loans.

By: Ravi P Benjamin