Adivasi Congress vice president Bellaiah Naik has said that 12 lakh tribals in Telangana were waiting for Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao’s promise of giving right of ownership on the lands being cultivated by the tribals in the agency areas but that the promise has not been fulfilled even after several years.
At a press conference here, he said KCR promised that tribals who were in possession of forest lands by 2013 would be given ownership rights as per the Forest Act 2013. Four lakh tribals applied for ownership but instead of making them owners the government was now driving away the poor tribals from their own lands.
He said that when the tribals were getting ready to cultivate the lands in the monsoon season forest officials were planting saplings in the same lands leading to skirmishes in several areas. This was being done deliberately by the government to snatch the lands from the tribals at any cost, he alleged. He demanded the Chief Minister stop physical attacks on the tribals.
Kisan Congress Chairman, Anvesh Reddy, who was also present at the press conference said the tribals were cultivating the forest lands much before India’s independence and after promising ownership, during the Telangana agitation, KCR was now trying to drive them away. This will lead another land struggle like the one during the Nizam’s rule, he warned.
