The Hindu : Front Page : Left firm on A.P. land agitation

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Tuesday, Aug 07, 2007
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Left firm on A.P. land agitation

Special Correspondent

Karat, Bardhan meet Sonia

Seek Sonia’s intervention to settle the issue
“Demands should be met by State Government”

NEW DELHI: The Left parties on Monday conveyed to the Congress central leadership that the land struggle in Andhra Pradesh would be intensified in case the demands were not met by the State Government.

This unequivocal message was given by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat and his CPI counterpart A.B. Bardhan when they met Congress President Sonia Gandhi at her 10, Janpath residence in the evening.

Mr. Karat later told journalists that they had asked Ms. Gandhi to intercede in the matter on behalf of the Congress leadership. They also told her that if the demands were not met, the struggle would be intensified.

The demands include that the State Government conduct a survey to establish eligible people out of those who have occupied land and arrange ‘katcha’ houses on Government land; distribute cultivable land identified by the people in the land struggle; plug loopholes in the Indiramma Housing Scheme and appoint an ombudsman; implement K. Ranga Rao Committee recommendation within six months; undo effects on account of amendments to the Land Assignment Act, 1974 and appoint an independent land commission to implement Rao Committee recommendations.

Mr. Bardhan said the Congress president said she would take up the matter with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh once again appealed to the central leadership of the CPI (M) to suspend the agitation/protest and discuss the issue with the Chief Minister and the State Government.

“As regards the land issue, it is the promise of the Congress party to provide houses to all the homeless people by April 2009. They [State Government] has already started this programme and in this year’s budget the State Government had provided for almost Rs. 5,000 crore for this scheme under the “Indiramma” [scheme] and Rs. 500 crore to purchase private land wherever Government land is not available,” Mr. Singh said in his reply to CPI(M) Central Committee member V. Srinivasa Rao.

As for the Rao Committee recommendations, he said the State Government had already accepted 74 of the 104 recommendations and the other 30 were in the process of consideration. “I am sure the Congress Government in A.P. shall take a decision in the best interests of the people of A.P.,” he said.

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