On Monday, Marripudi Venkatachalam (35) came to the collectorate along with some of his family members to submit a memorandum to the Collector, requesting to return the assignment land allotted to his father Gopala Rao at Fasalwadi that was taken over by the government. Vexed with finding no solution to the problem, he had come to the Collectorate after consuming pesticide. He was shifted to the government hospital where he breathed his last at around 2 a.m. on Tuesday.
Decades back in 1974, the government had assigned 48.07 guntas of land to some people and issued show-cause notices in December 2007 alleging that the beneficiaries had violated norms and land was not being cultivated.
On April 2, 2008, they were served notices as their replies were not satisfactory. It was stated that the land is being resumed for housing to the weaker sections. Being from a poor family, Venkatachalam submitted memorandums many times to the officials requesting them to return the land so that he can make a living out of that, but to no avail.
The names of land owners in the register was changed from Gopala Rao’s heirs — Nageswara Rao/ Raghu, Sharada Bai and Venkatachalam — to ‘house sites’. Similar was the case of one Kummari Mallesham of the same village. However, in the case of other lands, the ownership is still continuing in the name of the assignees, despite resumption by the government!
“We do not know how the names in the register were changed only for the two of us while the others are still enjoying ownership of the land despite receiving resumption orders. Our repeated appeals failed to convince the authorities,” said Mr. Mallesham.
“Our brother had moved around government offices a number of times and they said that he can cultivate the land, but did not mention about returning it. Ours is a poor family and he used to earn a livelihood by doing petty business,” said Venkatachalam’s sister Indira.
A foundation stone was laid for a resource centre in 2014 in the farm of Venkatachalam. It was adjacent to a modest dwelling he had built, but never lived in as the location was isolated.
Former whip T. Jayaprakash Reddy visited the family at the hospital and promised to extend required help. The authorities have promised to sanction three double bed-room houses for them.
