Hundreds of SC and ST people from Govindapuram, Mallavaram and Kamarajupeta panchayats mobilised at the Rajahmundry District Collectorate in Andhra Pradesh on September 7, demanding pattas (land deed) for poramboke land (un-assessed lands which are the property of Government used or reserved for public purposes) cultivated by poor families for the past 40 years.
The protest was organised by CPI(ML) Liberation, Andhra Pradesh Adivasi Sangham and the All India Agricultural and Rural Labour Association (AIARLA). The protestors included Eleru project-displaced SC and ST families from Kalijodapeta in Mallavaram panchayat and Kondadora tribal families from Govindapuram.
The cultivators have been farming around 100 acres of government land in Bhupathipalem revenue survey numbers 7/1, 9, 13/3, 14/2, 15, 31, 32, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47 and 53, and depend on the land for their livelihood.
Addressing the protest, CPI(ML) Liberation Andhra Pradesh State Secretary Comrade Bugatha Bangarrao and AIARLA State President Comrade Aegupathi Arjun Rao said that land grabbers had previously attempted to occupy portions of the land in the name of companies and benami interests. People’s struggles and protests had succeeded in stopping these attempts.
Following repeated petitions from the cultivators to the Gokavaram Tahsildar and District Collector, officials conducted a survey of the land and began taking steps towards granting pattas to the poor SC and ST cultivators. However, local political leaders have now begun attempting to take over the same land in the name of “development” and a proposed college.
The leaders warned that the land cannot be handed over for a college while denying rights to the families who have cultivated it and depended on it for four decades. They called for the land grab attempt to be resisted through mass mobilisation and announced that the struggle would be intensified until pattas are issued to the cultivators. A memorandum demanding pattas and protection of the cultivators’ land was submitted to the District Collector.
