ADILABAD: YSRTP chief YS Sharmila on Thursday visited Indravelli and paid tributes to the victims who were killed in the 1981 massacre. On April 20, 1981, many tribals lost their lives and hundreds sustained injuries when police opened fire while they were staging a peaceful agitation demanding land pattas and protection of lands from non-Adivasi encroachers.
After paying tributes to martyrs at the Indravelli Stupam, Sharmila alleged that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao failed to fulfil his poll promise of providing pattas to the tribal farmers who have been cultivating podu lands for decades.
“Instead of issuing pattas, KCR is putting the podu farmers behind the bars for questioning him over the issue,” She recalled how the government of her father late YS Rajasekhar Reddy resolved issues related to podu farmers.
“During his padyatra, YSR identified many issues related to podu farmers and realised that they won’t survive if they are not issued pattas. After forming the government, he constituted the Koneru Ranga Rao Committee to assess the implementation of land distribution programmes and suggest measures for their effective implementation,” she said.
“The government of YSR issued pattas to tribal farmers who were cultivating 3.30 lakh acres of forest lands. If he was alive, pattas would have been issued for the remaining 13 lakh acres,” Sharmila added.
YSR Telangana Party district president B Anil and other local leaders were present on the occasion.
BJP will form govt, issue pattas, says Adilabad MP
Meanwhile, The members of Adivasi Hakkula Porata Samithi (Thudum Debba) and BJP leaders, including Adilabad MP Soyam Bapu Rao, paid tributes to the victims of 1981 massacre at Indravelli Stupam on Thursday.
Speaking on the occasion, the MP said that in the BJP will form the government in the State after the next Assembly elections and issue pattas to podu farmers.“The Chief Minister on the floor of the Assembly anno-unced that pattas will be issued to podu farmers. But he failed to fulfil that promise,” he said.
“The BJP government will also construct a Smrithi Vanam (memorial) near Indravelli Stupam,” the MP said.“Neither the then AP government nor the present State government provided any support to the families of those killed in that massacre,” he said.