The district administration would is finally conducting a gram sabha at Toguta on Wednesday to ascertain the number farmer labourers dependent on the lands that were sold by landlords to the government for the construction of Mallannasagar Reservoir.
The farmer labourers in the village had approached the High Court with the complaint that the government had been refusing to identify them as agriculture labourer working in the fields that would be submerged in the reservoir. For several days the labourers obstructed work on the project site demanding that they should be compensated as they were losing their livelihood.
The officials were reluctant to extend the Rehabilitation and Resettlement package to the farm labourers as only major part of lands would be submerged and not the entire village.
In August 2019 the High Court directed the the authorities to conduct a survey and submit a report on the actual number of farm labourers and artisans in the village. The officials failed to complete the survey despite court direction and the issue came before the State bench of the Green Tribunal.
Forced with the court direction, the officials have conducted a house-to-house survey and identified a few families as labourers.
“It is observed that these people are eking their livelihood by doing different daily wage activities in and around Toguta mandal headquarters. Since Toguta village is close to district headquarters and Gajwel town, which can be reached within 15 minutes to 20 minutes drive. The residents of the village used to work as masons, mechanics, drivers and do other jobs even before the land acquisition. As Toguta village is not being submerged, these people can continue their economic activity in the mandal headquarters. The village is also providing ₹ 1 crore worth of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme works per annuam. As such their livelihood is not affected in any manner. Hence these people are not considered for to get R&R elements as provisions of law,” the administration noted in its report prepared after the survey.
