Revenue Minister Kagodu Thimmappa has said that officials have been directed to complete the process of issuing title deeds under the Akrama-Sakrama scheme within six months.
Speaking to presspersons after chairing a meeting of officials here on Monday, Mr. Thimmappa said that the government had implemented this scheme to help people who have constructed houses on government land without realising the fact that encroaching upon government land was an offence. However, to uphold their interests, the government has brought in this scheme.
As per a survey conducted in Dharwad, there are 14,700 houses on government land and title deeds have been distributed to 4,500 beneficiaries. The remaining applications should be disposed of in the next six months, he said.
On bagair hukum cultivators, the Minister said that as per a Union government policy, Scheduled Tribes farmers who started cultivating on forest land before 2005 are entitled to get land ownership record.
However, for the rest of the forest dwellers, they should provide documents to claim that they are traditional cultivators and that they are practising agriculture for the last 75 years. There is a provision to give title deeds up to 10 acres but at present, the government is disbursing title deeds for those who own up to three acres land, he added.
On crop insurance, Mr. Thimmappa said that ₹ 175 crore has been released for kharif and the amount is now being credited to the bank accounts of farmers. Crop insurance for rabi crop damage is yet to be released by the Centre.
If the banks are adjusting the insurance amount against the loans of farmers or seizing their tractors, the government will be forced to raise objections against nationalised banks, he said.
District in-charge Minister Vinay Kulkarni and Deputy Commissioner S. Bommanahalli were present.
