The plight of 1,417 landless poor families who were allotted land in rocky terrains in various districts in 2010, as part of the Chengara package of the previous Left Democratic Front government, continues as the State has failed to provide them with habitable land.
As many as 2,000 families, under the banner of the Sadhu Jana Vimochana Samyukta Vedi (SJVSV), had encroached upon a portion of the Kumbazha Estate of Harrison Malayalam Limited on August 4, 2007 demanding five acres of land for farming and ₹50,000 in cash towards initial farming expenses to each landless family among them. They pitched tents on the occupied land that spread across nearly 200 ha and started tapping the rubber trees there. The Kerala High Court directed the government and the district administration to clear the encroachment without any bloodshed. However, the official machinery could do little in this regard as the encroachers declared their struggle a ‘do-or die battle for land’. On more than one occasion they had threatened to commit mass suicide when there were reports of a possible police action.
The previous LDF government led by V.S. Achuthanandan identified 831.03 acres of land in 10 districts for distribution among 1,495 eligible landless people at Chengara. Of them, 38 families belonging to the Scheduled Tribes and 1,227 Scheduled Castes. Beneficiaries belonging to the STs were allotted one acre each while those in the SC category got 50 cents each. Those belonging to various other categories got 25 cents each.
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The land were allotted in 10 districts — Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Idukki, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Wayanad, Malappuram, Kannur, and Kasaragod. However, a majority of them declined to accept the land, saying it not fit for habitation or farming. Only 78 families got habitable land and the remaining 1,417 families were left in the lurch.
Meanwhile, Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan assured that those who are yet to occupy the land allotted to them in the rocky terrains would be provided with habitable land. A delegation of these landless people, accompanied by CPI district secretary A.P. Jayan, called on the Minister in Thiruvananthapuram recently.