KURNOOL: In a novel protest, a farmer resorted to begging to raise bribe amount and get his “land dispute” resolved. Holding a banner seeking liberal donations from people to bribe the revenue officials, the farmer, along with his wife and two children, was seen moving in Velugodu mandal headquarters for the past two days.
According to reports, M Venkateswarlu alias Balija Raju is a farmer hailing from Madhavaram village in Velugodu mandal had decided to sell his 25 acres of agriculture land inherited from his ancestors to repay the debts. However, the land is now under the control of his close relatives.
He approached the Velugodu tahsildar office seeking the intervention of revenue officials to take possession of his land from the relatives.
“The revenue officials are saying that I do not have ownership right on the land which I cultivated once. I am well aware of the fact that I do not get justice without bribing. I have no other option but to beg on the roads to raise the money,’’ he said.
“The revenue officials are saying that I do not have ownership right on the land which I cultivated once. I am well aware of the fact that I do not get justice without bribing the revenue officials as it is a common practice in the government office. I have no other option but to beg on the roads along with my family members to raise the bribe amount,’’ he said.
Raju and his family were seen carrying a banner reading “Lancham Ivvali - Dharmam Cheyyandi” (Please donate, I have to bribe officials).As the protest became a talk of the town, Velugodu tahsildar Srinivasulu and Circle Inspector Krishnaiah called him to look into the matter. “Though Raju is claiming that the land belongs to him, he does not have any documents to claim the ownership right on it,’’ the tahsildar said.
When contacted, District Collector S Satyanarayana told TNIE that the farmer has no ownership right on the land as his name is not found in the revenue records. “We will file a defamation case against the farmer for resorting to the false propaganda against the revenue officials,’’ he added.