Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) Commissioner N. Srikanth on Wednesday said that farmers in notified villages would not be allowed to cultivate their lands after signing the development agreement with the State government.
His comments sparked an immediate reaction from YSRC MLA from Mangalagiri Alla Ramakrishna Reddy, who said farmers were determined to continue cultivation. Mr. Srikanth said farmers could not take up cultivation after signing the development agreement with the CRDA in line with the notification.
Reacting strongly to CRDA Commissioner’s comments, Mr. Reddy said the YSR Congress would stand by farmers who were determined to carry out cultivation. He also accused the State government of trying to coerce the farmers into parting with their lands forcefully.
The process of verifying the land ownership claims by individuals would take some time. The verification includes perusal of revenue records and local enquiries. Land owners are presently giving consent letters to revenue teams who in turn were verifying the claims. Later, agreements on developing the land would be signed with the original beneficiaries.
The CRDA Commissioner said about 7,500 acres have been pooled so far and efforts were onto pool 10,000 acres by the end of January. Attributing the slow pace of land pooling to the shortage of deputy collectors, Mr. Srikanth said the Collector of Guntur has deputed deputy collectors as in-charges and the process would be speeded up in the coming days.
Meanwhile, the State government on Wednesday released a G.O fulfilling the promise of waiving of crop loans to the extent of Rs.1.5 lakh of 7,403 farmers in 25 villages spread across Thullur, Tadepalli and Mangalagiri mandals.
Farmers in notified villages will not be allowed to cultivate their lands after signing the development agreement with the State government
