The government will soon release a white paper on issues such as land grabs by party leaders during the five-year Vaikapa regime, alienation of valuable places like Dasapalla in Visakhapatnam, illegalities in the name of permanent rights on assigned lands, and exploitation of natural resources.
Chandrababu’s dissatisfaction with the report of the revenue authorities on land grabbing during the Vaikapa regime
is incomplete and
soon a white paper will be issued on the then land grabs.
Galla S Kiran Kumar, Bureau Chief
Today, Amaravati: The government will soon release a white paper on issues such as land grabs by party leaders during the five-year Vaikapa rule in the state, alienation of valuable places like Dasapalla in Visakhapatnam, illegalities in the name of permanent rights on assigned lands, and exploitation of natural resources. On this, Chief Minister Chandrababu along with Ministers Kollu Ravindra, Anani Sathyaprasad and TG Bharat reviewed it with the officials of the respective departments at the Secretariat on Monday. He examined the report prepared by the officials on AP Land Rights Act, resurvey, power companies, allotment of land to Vaikapa offices, cent plots for the poor, interference of Vaikapa leaders in revenue affairs etc. It is noteworthy that the officials stated that all the mistakes that happened at that time were made by the Chief Minister, Ministers and Vaikapa leaders and that they had no involvement in them. Chandrababu expressed dissatisfaction that the report was not comprehensive. Ordered to make it more in depth with complete details. The main points mentioned in the report..
Swaha of lands in Visakha!
- In Visakha, Ramanaidu’s studio lands were converted into residential category against the rules. Former Vaikapa MP MVV Satyanarayana gave permission for the construction project in the disputed CBCNC lands. TDR bonds worth Rs.65 crore have been issued. Lands of NCC, Dasapalla and Hayagriva were swaha. 15 acres of the most valuable land in Kothavalasa was allotted to Sarada Peetha at the rate of Rs.1 per acre.
- 9,93,284 acres have been excluded from the 22(a) list as per the law made by Vaikapa government to provide ownership rights on the assigned lands that have been allotted for more than 20 years. Vaikapa leaders got those lands from the poor at a low price.
- The Vaikapa government has framed the Land Titling Act in a manner different from the spirit of the Model Titling Act proposed by NITI Aayog. With the provisions of that law, the protection of people’s lands is going to be questionable. No other state government has brought this dangerous law.
- Due to lack of time for conducting land resurvey, many mistakes were made in the final records. (The report mentions Jagan’s photographing on the licensee’s pass books.)
- Ongole in Prakasam district and surrounding areas were heavily involved in land scams. Irregularities were also committed in the issuance of birth and death certificates. GPAs were created with fake people by entering old dates on survey reports, land transfers, old stamp papers. Some have acquired unclaimed private lands that are in family disputes.
Interference in all revenue matters
- Vaikapa leaders used to interfere in the selection of beneficiaries for distribution of house titles and agricultural lands. They used to collect money from the beneficiaries.
- They used to pressure the officials to facilitate voter registration and work in favor of them.
- While the CCLA ordered the dismissal, compulsory retirement and reduction of status of 10 Tehsildars who were involved in serious irregularities, Vaikapa leaders put pressure on the government and reduced their punishment.
- Illegal layouts were made in the cultivated lands and converted into non-agricultural lands against the rules.
- Lands falling under non-aqua zone have been converted into fish ponds.
- Private lands were put in the 22(a) list, pressure was put on them and they were beaten cheaply.
Massive robbery in houses
- The Vaikapa leaders bought the land under the names of benami at a low price and put pressure on the authorities to buy it at a higher price. 28,554.64 acres of government land has been utilized for housing development. Assigned lands belonging to SC, ST and BC have been collected in a large percentage of the areas. Uninhabitable, waterlogged and environmentally sensitive lands were collected. In many places, the beneficiaries did not take them as they were far away from the villages. 54 acres of land had to be restored as forest land again with the orders of NGT. As a result, the government suffered huge losses.
- There is no transparency in the selection of beneficiaries. A large number of names of ineligible persons are included in the lists. 20% of the house title holders have already sold.
- In East Godavari district, the mustard lands which are submerged in rains have been collected. High amount of compensation was paid for these which were not suitable for house rails. In Prakasam and Chittoor districts waste land for cattle grazing was collected. They were forced to pay 2-3 times more compensation than what was fixed in the 2013 Land Acquisition Act. The middlemen took the shares without paying this amount to the farmers. In Gannavaram mandal of Krishna district, if the acre is Rs.30 lakhs, the compensation was given at the rate of Rs.55 lakhs.
- Vaikapa leaders have also secured contracts for collecting and leveling landfills. Under the employment guarantee scheme, the silt removed from the ponds was moved there and funds were given. Rs.34.73 crores were used for land leveling in Nellore district. Beneficiaries did not come forward to build houses far away from the village, close to graveyards and forest areas.
- Vaikapa leaders misled and intimidated the farmers in Bhimili, Anandapuram, Padmanabham, Anakapalli district, Sabbavaram and Paravad in Visakhapatnam district claiming that the government is collecting land at a low price. Their lands were purchased on contract documents.
- 10,226 acres have been allotted to Indosol Solar Company and 14,828 acres to Greenco Company.
- The most valuable lands in various district centers have been allotted to Vaikapa offices. 40.78 acres were constructed at the rate of Rs.1,000 per acre per year. Their value is in crores of Rs.
