5,000 acres of panchami land usurped in TN, 348 acres in dist

Coimbatore: After identifying 5,000 acres of panchami land (land assigned to dalits) in eight districts of Tamil Nadu encroached by private companies, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is taking measures to retrieve the land.

"In Coimbatore alone, 96 cases were identified and 348.85 acres will be retrieved," said the vice-chairman of the commission, L Murugan, who was in Coimbatore on Friday to conduct a review meeting.

The commission is taking steps to find out the actual extent of encroached panchami land, the official told TOI.. "Some associations claimed that the extent of encroachment is more than 50,000 acres. But, lack of authentic information was a major hurdle. So, we started a survey in June, 2017. It has been completed it in Coimbatore, Namakkal, Tirupur, Madurai, Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli and Chennai," said Murugan.

In Coimbatore North, 24.70 acres of land have been identified as panchami land, in Sulur 262.95 acres, in Pollachi 56.82 acres and in Kinathukidavu, 4.88 acres. "Notices have been issued for 60 cases and within 15 days, action will be taken against the others," the official said,

The British government, in 1892, had handed over several tracts of panchami land to the dalit. But, 70% of the land has been usurped and registered by others over a period of time.

"We would recommend action against the government officials involved in the registration process as well as those who indulged in illegal land transfer process," Murugan said.

Members of the commission also took up the cause of sanitary workers in the State and asked local bodies to ensure that all sanitary workers are provided with salary invoices and statements apart from electronic transfer of the amount. "Most times, they are given lesser salary. Many of them have complained that they are unable to claim provident fund amount. We have asked the officials concerned to ensure that salary statements are issued," said a member of the commission. The commission has also directed all government offices to provide biometric services to the workers as many non-dalit workers are being employed.

Talking about atrocities, the commission said it has recommended the government to provide compensation to the family of Anitha, the dalit girl, who spearheaded the fight against the national eligibility and entrance test and later committed suicide. "We came to know that Anitha had got admission in three leading colleges. But, it was due to political and other influence that she was forced to commit suicide. We are conducting an inquiry into this and have asked the government to provide a compensation of Rs 25 lakh to her family," Murugan added.