A farmer’s lone fight against State

​Medak: The name ‘Baddam Malla Reddy’ may make an impression that he is an affluent person with an influential social standing in Telangana to any outsider, but he is none. Attenuation of land ownership over generations has reduced the once wealthy landlords in Telangana to the level of marginal farmers.

Malla Reddy, who inherited 2 acres and 23 guntas from his ancestral property in Semnapur village, in the newly formed Haveli Ghanpur mandal of Medak district, is stuck with a midlife crisis. With the land acquisition attempts made by the government for the Akkannapet-Medak railway line, Malla Reddy is forced to part with his agricultural land, his only means for livelihood. Yet, Malla Reddy stands strong and defiant while resisting all attempts made by the government to acquire his land.

Malla Reddy’s, black-soil agricultural land that lies adjacent to the main road can be termed as a farmer’s paradise. He claims to have produced different variety of crops including vegetables, maize and paddy among others. Apart from that, he has four open wells in his farm land, filled to the brim with rainwater (owing to the good rains witnessed this year in the State). Even during a drought season, his land needs little amount of water being black soil for cultivation, due to his well-endowed plans for the season.

He recently performed his daughter’s wedding in a grand way, adding many debts on his shoulder. His only son, who is 30 years old and single, is an MBA graduate and is currently working in a private company in Hyderabad and earning Rs 10,000 per month.

Life hasn’t been smooth for Malla Reddy; he battled sickness for 15 years selling away 1.5 acres of his land for his healthcare expenditure. “This is all I am left with. Without this land, how will my family survive? Will anybody give their daughter’s hand in marriage to my son without any land?” he questions the reporter with a mixed emotion of anger, sorrow and helplessness.

When the Gram Sabha was held for acquiring land in his village, the villagers demanded Rs 10 lakh per acre, along with loans for setting up poultry farms and dairy farms. But, they are being offered Rs 5 lakh per acre currently by the government. He hasn’t yet been issued any notice for the attainment of his land, but Revenue officials have been trying to pressurise him to give up his land. “Let them use JCBs to dig my land and pour soil on my dead body to build the railway line.

I am not going to give my consent at any cost,” says Malla Reddy. To part with his land, he is asking for a better compensation and a government job for his son and expresses that he is not against the construction of the railway line.

Land acquisitions for the railway line, which was sanctioned during the Congress government, are being done in Gangapur, Semnapur, Pathur, Ousulapally, Tunigendla, Laxmapur and Akkannapet villages, that are spread over 15 kilometres on Medak-Siddipet road.

Compensation per acre is Rs 7.20 lakh in Akkannapet, Rs 7 lakh in Ousulapally and Laxmapur, Rs 6 lakh in Tunigendla and Rs 5 lakh in Gangapur, Semnapur and Pathur villages. In some villages, compensation is the same for assigned and patta lands, whereas in some villages, it is slightly varied.

By Vivek Bhoomi