Members of the Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (KPRS), led by its president Maruti Manpade, began their ‘padayatra’ to Bangalore from the Kote Anjaneyaswamy temple at the Balarama Gate of Mysore Palace here on Tuesday, in protest against the State government’s alleged move to evict farmers engaged in the cultivation of revenue, forest and ‘gomala’ lands since decades.
Instead of distributing title deeds, the government had issued notices to bagair hukum land holders and was planning to throw them out of their lands, the sangha charged.
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The former MLA and vice-president of the sangha G.V. Sreemana Reddy flagged off the padayatra. General secretary of the Mysore Committee of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) G. Jayaram, KPRS convener K. Basavaraj and co-convener Jagadish Surya were present.
In a press statement issued here on Tuesday, the sangha urged the government to immediately issue an order for distributing title deeds to poor farmers engaged in the cultivation of government lands and withdraw the “order” allegedly issued to tahsildars and Deputy Commissioners for “evicting” the small and marginal farmers from forest and government lands in the State.
The sangha sought suitable amendments to the Land Revenue Act to make the distribution of title deeds to those engaged in farming in ‘gomala’ land possible.
The sangha demanded amendment to existing laws to ensure that the people engaged in cultivation and those residing in government land within a 25-km radius of city corporations, including BBMP, city municipal councils and town panchayats get title deeds. It urged the government to initiate steps to book cases against farmers engaged in cultivation of forest land and withdraw cases lodged so far against such farmers. It urged the government to put pressure on the Union government to make suitable changes in the Forest Rights Act so as to provide title deeds to farmers cultivating forestland.
