Farmer's kin seek KCR's help to get control of their land in Gadwal

Gadwal: Fed up with numerous and repeated visits to Tahsildar's office at Gattu and many representations at Prajavaani programme in the district headquarters, a family from Gorlakhandoddi village of Gattu mandal has lost their hope of getting their 19.17 acres of land registered in the revenue records against their name. Disheartened, the family took to a unique protest on Thursday in Gadwal and urged the people to share their plight with Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.

The family members travelled in their tractor with folded hands and shared their problem with every person they came across along the road and requested them to pass on their message to the Chief Minister. "Until 2017, we had our land safely recorded in the ROR, and we have also taken agriculture loans from the bank and received crop insurance for our damaged crops. However, soon after the State government launched the land records purification drive and issued new passbooks to farmers, our family was the worst hit, thanks to the highhandedness of the revenue officials in the district," they said.

"The 19.17 acres of land which was earlier reflected in the records in the survey number 194/195 has now totally vanished and in its place the officials have increased the land to 24 acres excess against its actual extent in the same survey number and the same has been recorded in the name of one Narsamma.

We are clueless as to how this has happened and when asked, the officials answered that excess 6 acres of land has been added to the existing survey number which was incorrect. They say it is a complex matter and it will take time as it needs detailed investigation, and conducting survey of the entire survey number," said Tirumalesh, a family member.

When contacted with the revenue officials, they said they had acknowledged the problem and they would correct the records only when they go into the field and ascertain the actual extent of the land.

Meanwhile, the family members of the poor farmer have alleged that this was the handy work of corrupt officials who were habituated to taking bribes. The farmer's family is worried as they are not able to get government benefits like Rythu Bandhu and even agriculture loans from banks. They fear that if the officials do not address their problem, they might lose their land to others soon. "No one is heeding to our problem, our last hope is Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao," Jayalaxmi, another member of the family said.