As many as 4.5 lakh families “living on objectionable poramboke land” in rural areas of the State for over five years are expected to receive three cents of land each free.
Apart from the period of residential occupancy of the poramboke land, the families should fulfil the criterion of having a maximum annual income of ₹1 lakh each. If both conditions are met, they will be given free house site pattas (land documents) for three cents each, according to a senior official of the Land Administration Commissionerate.
Alternative sites will be provided to them so that the “objectionable poramboke lands” are restored to their original condition.
Waterbodies, grazing grounds and temple poramboke lands fall under the category of “objectionable poramboke lands.”
Of the total number of encroachers, around 2.86 lakh families are living on waterbodies; 79,000 families on grazing grounds; 70,000 families on national or State highways and 15,000 on temple poramboke lands.
Tiruvallur tops list
The Tiruvallur district accounts for the maximum number of encroachers of poromboke lands for waterbodies with 1.12 lakh, followed by Kancheepuram, 70,000; Vellore, 28,000; Villupuram, 21,000; Tiruvannamalai, 20,000; Cuddalore, 14,000 and Nagapattinam, 9,000.
As per the authorities’ plan, the encroachers will be accommodated either on “unobjectionable poramboke lands” or on private lands in villages where they have been living. “Private lands will be acquired by the authorities for being assigned to the families.
“On being provided with the pattas, they will be considered for coverage under either of the two rural housing schemes — Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and Chief Minister’s Solar Powered Green House Scheme.
Scheme duration
These are among the features of the government’s latest scheme of providing succour to the poor and shelterless, who have encroached upon public properties for residential purposes. The scheme will be in force for six months.
Asked whether the cap on the annual income limit is realistic, the official says that only those whose income corresponds to the stipulation would be living on such poramboke lands.
Till now, the annual income ceiling limit for a family to get a free house site patta in rural areas was ₹30,000, which the government has hiked to ₹1 lakh.
In addition to those living on “objectionable poramboke lands,” there are 1.26 lakh families that have encroached on “unobjectionable lands”; 89,000 families in urban areas; 19,000 families in areas under local bodies and 43,000 families on lands that are enumerated in the document called prohibitory order book, the official added.
