Farmers registered about 20 acres of land under GO 123 on Wednesday for Mallannasagar reservoir. It was about 30 acres on Tuesday. With a large number of registrations taking place at Etigaddaksihtapur in Toguta mandal, the fate of landless and homeless poor hangs in the balance.
As per the GO, those selling land would get Rs. 6 lakh for an acre of land instead of Rs. 5.85 lakh that they were offered in the past.
For those having houses, the government would assess the cost of the house and pay the amount. In addition, Rs. 5.04 lakh – an amount for constructing a double bedroom house – is being offered by the administration to the house owners.
With the land holders and house owners settling for compensation under GO 123, the future of about 43 landless poor in the village and about 25 families without any house is in limbo. There is no mention of the landless and houseless poor in the GO.
As per Schedule II of the Land Acquisition Act-2013, if a person has been residing in a place for three years by the time of construction of a project, he/she is eligible for a house under Indira Awas Yojana, even if he/she does not have a house. If he/she refuses to reside in the house being provided by the government, he/she has to be offered financial assistance for constructing a house. These benefits would be extended to the houseless poor only if the land was acquired under the Act.
“We have already submitted a list of about 43 landless poor in the village and about 25 families without houses. So far, there is no word from the government on how it would deal with the problem and we are completely clueless too,” said an official, on condition of anonymity.
