MADURAI: The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) issued a notice to the Principal Secretary to the Government and the Commissioner of the Revenue and Disaster Management Department seeking records of land that was reclassified as ‘Government land Tharisu’ (barren land) during the past 10 years.
The notice was issued following a complaint alleging that revenue authorities, after recovering Panchami and Adi Dravidar land from encroachers, had reclassified it as government barren land instead of restoring their original Adi Dravidar land status.
Speaking to TNIE, Dalit Liberation Movement (DLM) president S Karuppaiah said that thousands of acres had historically been assigned to Scheduled Caste communities under Panchami land and Adi Dravidar land categories.
“These plots are specifically reserved for the SCs and cannot be sold or reclassified. Over the years, many private individuals and organisations encroached upon them across TN.
Due to continuous protests and efforts by Dalit and human rights organisations, several such encroachments were cleared. However, after recovery, the revenue department reclassified many of these land parcels as ‘TN Tharisu’ instead of restoring them as ‘Adi Dravidar land (Tharisu),” he alleged.
Karuppaiah further claimed the reclassification deprived Dalits of land originally earmarked for them.
Pointing to the seriousness of the issue, he said the District Revenue Officer of Kallakurichi district had issued a circular in 2024 directing revenue officials to correctly reclassify recovered Panchami and Adi Dravidar land as Adi Dravidar land (Tharisu).
“However, many revenue staff and inspectors across Tamil Nadu remain unaware of the issue. We also suspect that casteist forces may be influencing such reclassifications. Similar misleading land classifications have allegedly taken place in districts including Dharmapuri, Madurai, Tiruvannamalai, Salem, Theni, and Dindigul over several decades,” he added.
Speaking to TNIE, Dr S Ravivarman, Director of the NCSC, confirmed that the commission had taken cognisance of the complaint.
“A notice was issued to the state government considering the gravity and criminal nature of the allegations. We have sought records regarding encroachments and subsequent recovery actions district-wise. Based on the documents received, the commission will conduct individual hearings for each case,” he said.