ADILABAD: At long last, the State government has begun the process of addressing the most vexatious issues of all times — conferment of rights to the tribals on the lands which they had been cultivating for generations.
It is hoped that once the issue is resolved, the tribal-forest department conflicts will end as there will be a clear demarcation of lands. The forest staff would know whose land belongs to the tribals and the latter would know which is forest land.
The area of cultivation in forest land in the erstwhile Adilabad district has increased since the then AP government issued pattas to the eligible farmers who raised crops in the lands before 2005. According to official records, as many as 70,053 applications were received then of which 37,324 were approved by district-level committees. The extent of the area was 1.36 lakh acres.
This time the number of applications received was 83,000 for an extent of 3.1 lakh acres. Compared to the then Andhra Pradesh, the number of applications received is quite high.
Most of the applications received were from Kumrambheem-Asifabad district. Their number is 31,633 followed by Adilabad (24,561 applicants), Mancherial (11,938), and Nirmal (14,868) for an extent of 3.01 lakh acres.
The State government, to address the long-pending demand of the conferment of ownership rights on forest lands to tribals commissioned a survey with forest, Panchayat Raj, and Revenue officials in the erstwhile Adilabad district.
The survey teams appointed by the three departments completed the survey at ground level and identified the farmers who are cultivating the land and which lands are vacant. The officials collected the details and uploaded them in the app which is provided by the tribal welfare department.
The staff would show the data at the time of gram sabha and pass resolutions, conferring ownership with the consent of all. The village-level grama sabha resolution copy which is passed would be referred to the district-level committee for finalisation.
LAND USE CERTIFICATES DISTRIBUTED
Adilabad: With the completion of land surveys, forest officials have started conducting gram sabhas to distribute rights certificates. One such event was held in Marlavai gram panchayat under Jainoor mandal of Kumurambheem Asifabad district. Forest section officer Haritha said the certificates are being handed over to persons who have been cultivating since 2005. She urged people to relay their concerns to the gram panchayat. Sarpanch Kanaka Pratibha Venkateshwar Rao, panchayat secretary and other forest officials also participated in the event.