Vemulaghat village is in the news for the past one-and-half year or so with demands for implementation of Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act – 2013 (LA Act -2013). Withstanding pressures from different sections, the villagers even approached the court demanding implementation of the LA Act which forced the government to conduct grama sabhas in the village. After the grama sabhas, the villagers are alleging that they were not supplied with copy of the minutes of the meeting.
“A grama sabha was held in our village on October 21, 2017. But the minutes’ copy was not given to us despite repeated appeals. Why was a copy not supplied and our doubts not cleared?” asked the villagers of Vemulaghat in a letter addressed to the authorities.
In a letter addressed to the Collector on Wednesday, copies of which were sent to the Principal Secretary and Chief Secretaries of Revenue, Panchayat Raj, Forest and Irrigation (Kaleswaram), the villagers said that their objections were not addressed. They pointed out about 10 issues in the letter which included why a notification copy of land acquisition was not available on the net, why details of Mallannasagar project were not supplied and why the photocopies of applications submitted for forest clearance were not extended. They also questioned issuing of declaration on November 24 of this month without addressing the issues raised by them.
More than 70 villagers have signed on the petition submitted at the Collector office.
“We have not received the minutes copy of the grama sabha. The officials told us on the day of grama sabha that they would hand it over in two days, but they failed to keep the word. Hence, we are asking them once again to furnish the details,” Mr. Hayatuddin, one of the petitioners, told The Hindu . He said that they were informed about holding another grama sabha for award declaration on December 5.
