The Forum for Development of North Andhra (FDNA) has appealed to Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to convene an all-party meeting to resolve the long-pending problem of Simhachalam panchagramalu land issue, which has been causing hardship to the affected people for over two decades.
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In a letter to the Chief Minister on Tuesday, FDNA general A. Aja Sarma recalled the promise made by Mr. Jagan that his government would resolve the issue immediately after coming to power.
Though a committee was formed soon after the YSRCP assumed power in 2019. A year later, three more persons were included in the committee but no solution has been found to the problem. On the contrary, the government has further complicated the issue by including those who were in no way connected to the issue in the committee, he alleged.
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The FDNA leader noted that the ruling party leaders were now saying that since the issue was in court, the government was not in a position to do anything on it. The issue was in the court even when the promise was made by the YSRCP president, he said. This shows that the government was either not keen in resolving the issue or has no understanding of it, Mr. Aja Sarma alleged.
The panchagramalu land issue was created by the previous government, which unilaterlly gave ryotwari pattas to the Simhachalam Devasthanam during 1996 and 1997.
The RDO court in Visakhapatnam as also the three-member committee of officials, appointed by the government, on the directions of the High Court, in 2014, had declared the pattas given by the government as ‘invalid’ and there was no evidence that the said lands belong to the Simhachalam devasthanam. The government can submit this report in court and obtain directions, he said.
He reiterated his appeal to the Chief Minister to convene a meeting of all-parties and associations, which are conversant with the issue, to find a solution to the decades-old issue and save the affected-people from harassment.