VILLUPURAM: Free patta and housing must be given to 25 Irular families in a settlement at Olakkur block near Tindivanam, Collector D Mohan instructed officials on Monday. This comes after the landlord they work under sold the plot to a private owner, leaving them landless.
According to official sources, the 25 Irular families have been residing at Thengaipakkam village in Olakkur block, over the past three generations. They were working for a farm owner and had been given a piece of land to set up temporary shelters. However, the landlord allegedly sold the land to a private owner from Chennai, without informing the labourers. Sources from the settlement said, the families came to know about this only after the officials explained it to them on Monday.
A 45-years-old resident of the settlement told TNIE, "Our ancestors had settled here to do labour at the landlord’s farm and for the past 40 years, it became a permanent place of residence.We did not know that the owners of the land had changed twice and now, we are now vulnerable to being thrown away."
After hearing the queries of the people, the Collector directed officials to allot land for the people under free patta along with free housing under the Kalaingar Samathuvapuram scheme. Mohan told TNIE, "The people were not informed that the land had been owned by a different person. An investigation will be held. For now, the district administration is taking efforts to resettle the families in an area with basic amenities. "