Kadapa: Land acquisition becomes a Herculean task

Kadapa: Only 40 days are left for distribution of housesits to homeless poor under the State government's ambitious 'House sites for all poor' (Pedalandariki illa Sthalalu) scheme. The district officials have been striving to meet the set target in a time bound manner which may be a difficult task.

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is keen on distributing house sites to poor as a gift on Telugu New Year (Ugadi) Day.

According to the sources, the district administration has acquired 1, 499.68 acres against the requirement of 2,203.69 acres for 95,563 beneficiaries identified in the district. The administration has to acquire about 600 acres of land for the purpose. In case, the number of beneficiaries is more, the administration has to acquire more land to meet the demand.

This kind of situation is witnessed in Kadapa, Badvel, Rajampet, Rayachoti, Mydukuru, Proddaturu, Jammalamadugu and Kamalapuram, where the business establishments and industries are located in large numbers.

The administration has already allocated thousands of acres of land for industrial development and other needs in these areas some years ago. For example, earlier about 14,000 acres of land was allocated to Brahmani Steels during the regime of former chief minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy and recently 2,000 acres of land allocated for establishment of steel plant for which foundation stone was laid by Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.

It may be recalled that Revenue Minister P Subash Chandra Bose, who visited the district last year, announced about 800 acres of private land is required for house sites distribution scheme and he sanctioned Rs 78 crores for the purpose.

According to the sources, the government is contemplating to provide one-and-a-half cent of land to each homeless to construct house.

However, an official admitted that there was scarcity of land under the 'House Sites for All Poor' as thousands of acres of government land were allocated for various needs during the regime of various governments. "We are trying our best level to meet the target despite shortage of time, " he said.