Taking note of the objections raised and opposition posed by people in some Tandas, hamlets of Banjara (Lambani) community, to government servants who are surveying Tandas for the purpose of transforming the settlements into revenue villages in Kalaburagi district, Deputy Commissioner Yeshwanth V. Gurukar has appealed to Tanda dwellers to cooperate with the surveying staff so that his administration can smoothly complete the survey process without any issues.
Mr. Gurukar, at a media conference convened at his office here on Wednesday, said that some dwellers in Tandas are objecting to the survey process as they have had a bitter experience of deception by unknown people in the past.
“Some people in the past have apparently deceived Tanda dwellers in the name of survey. I would like to make it clear that it is an official government survey undertaken for the purpose of converting their settlements into revenue villages. I appeal to them to cooperate with the survey staff,” Mr. Gurukar said.
The conversion of Tandas, settlements of Banjara community members on government and government-private land, into revenue villages and offering legal rights to settlers to their houses, Mr. Gurukar added, is a great leap forward as it will help the administration to implement all government welfare programmes and development projects easily and also ensure the development of such settlements.
“Conversion of Tandas into revenue villages is a monumental task. It is a long-standing demand of the Banjara community members. Once the Tandas are converted into revenue villages, we can easily implement all development projects such as laying roads and building schools and hospitals without any legal hurdles. It will pave the way for rapid development of the Tandas,” he said.
“Besides, it will help the dwellers in many ways with regard to their houses. Since they are offered with legal ownership to their houses, disputes with regard to their houses can easily be settled and they can also apply for loans and other facilities based on the ownership of their houses,” Mr. Gurukar said.
Responding to queries, Mr. Gurukar said that there are 453 Tandas in the district having 44,627 households and over 3.9 lakh residents of the Banjara community.
“Of the 453 Tandas, 68 are on government land, 289 on private and sub-village premises and 62 on government and private land. There are 34 settlements on forest land. Some of the land disputes pertaining to the settlements on forest land are in courts and we can take decisions on them only after they are settled legally,” Mr. Gurukar said.
Expressing happiness over the speed at which the survey work is going on, Mr. Gurukar said that nearly 15,000 households have already been covered and another 15,000 will be surveyed by the end of this month.
“The survey is going on on a war-footing. We have appointed 100 surveyors for the purpose. We have covered nearly 15,000 households and will complete survey of another 15,000 households by the end of this month. The dwelling land rights will be disbursed in October,” Mr. Gurukar said.
