The United Democratic Front (UDF) government should come out with a progressive policy to provide land for farming and construction of houses to all landless and homeless people in the State, Dalit ideologue Saji M. Kapeekkad has said.
Addressing a public meeting organised by the Adivassi-Dalit Munnetta Samiti here on Tuesday, Mr. Kapeekkad said the allotment of land for farming to all landless people would bring economic development. The government should desist from ‘tethering those belonging to the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe categories to three-cent colonies.' Samiti president Sreeraman Koyyon said 2.55 lakh acres of government land had been in the illegal possession of various private parties such as Harrisons Malayalam Ltd., Tata Estate, and Believers Church.
The government should show the political will to take over such land and distribute it among the landless people. Thousands of landless people in the Dalit and upper caste sections of society were being denied their fundamental right to have a dwelling place as a huge chunk of land was in the illegal possession of corporate houses, he said.
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The samiti would launch a State-wide agitation to press its demands. Samiti general secretary C.H. Gopalan and office-bearers C.K. Arjunan, Kanchiyaal Peethambaran, Bijoy David, Ammini Narayanan, Santhamma Kallarackal, and Hari Naranganam spoke.