The Communist Party of India (Marxist) State committee has sought the government's intervention to enable the Nilgiris district administration issue ‘pattas' to the poor in the hill district.
In a statement, CPI (M) State secretary G. Ramakrishnan said the poor people of Gudalur and Pandhalur taluks had been demanding ‘pattas,' but the administration was denying them for the past 40 years.
Government Order No. 1168/89 banned issue of ‘pattas' in hill areas, which denied the poor rights to land in these two taluks.
Besides, new registration was banned in 16 revenue villages in three taluks of the district as per the provisions of Private Forests Protection Act 1949, because of which over 50,000 small and medium farmers could not build houses or sink wells on their lands. They were also not in a position to sell the lands.
The State Forest Department's initiative to re-create elephant corridors in the biosphere could evict farmers from over 7,000 acres. The ban on traffic between Udhagamandalam and Mysore highways had added to their woes.
The government has not taken any effort to implement the Forest Rights Act to protect the rights of Adivasis, Mr. Ramakrishnan said, and called for the State's effective intervention in solving the problems of the poor farmers in the Nilgiris.
