Land scheme gets a boost

Hyderabad: The State’s flagship programme of distributing three acres land to landless poor has received unexpected boost following the Centre’s demonetisation.

According to sources in the Telangana Scheduled Castes Cooperative Development Corporation Limited (TSCCDL), realtors are reluctant to buy land at higher price in the wake of scrapping of high-value currency notes.

This has led to the landowners in districts like Adilabad, Warangal, Karimnagar and few others selling their lands under the land purchase scheme giving an edge to TSCCDL over the private players.

When contacted, the Corporation Vice-Chairman and Managing Director B Anand Kumar said things were looking up. The Corporation had already purchased about 40 acres in Parvathagiri in Warangal Rural and distributed the same among the landless.

“Following the initiative by the landowners offering their lands we are going ahead proactively with a target of acquiring about 500 acres in Warangal district alone and distributing the same in the next three months,” he said.

The sources said so far Rs 405 crore was spent to acquire lands and another Rs 8 crore was extended to the beneficiaries as crop assistance. Beneficiaries in places like Warangal Rural were earning about Rs 30,000 on an acre, he said. As per the scheme’s guidelines the land acquisition cost has been capped at Rs 7 lakh an acre.

Land prices were high in the past before demonetisation was announced. It was because realty sector was active. As the realty sector took a beating, land prices had come down, officials told The Hans India.