A section of Dalits of Attukulam near Melur have alleged irregularities in the allocation of 9.25 acres of land acquired in the village by Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare (ADTW) department in 2001 for distribution to landless Dalits.
According to the affected people, who have submitted multiple representations to the district administration over the past 17 years, the issue started with the department issuing pattas, each measuring three cents, to nearly 170 persons in two batches.
Stating that not a single beneficiary was from Attukulam, P. Nagarajan claimed that the list was finalised by officials without proper verification and in collusion with middlemen.
“The 9.25 acres of land was acquired from a caste Hindu under the Tamil Nadu Acquisition of Land for Harijan Welfare Schemes Act only because of our repeated petitions seeking land for the landless SC families in the village. The caste Hindu person, in fact, agreed for acquisition after we made a personal appeal to him. However, when the pattas were issued, we were not even informed,” he alleged.
N. Thirukumaran, an advocate, who is assisting the affected persons, said that the pattas originally issued to 170 persons belonging to SC community from different villages were later illegally transferred to other people, including caste Hindus, by middlemen. “The middlemen recently managed to get the revenue officials measure and allocate roughly three acres of land to 67 people, many of whom were not part of the original list of 170 beneficiaries,” he said.
Blaming the revenue officials for failing to check if the allocation was made to the intended beneficiaries, he said, “Now, many of these 67 people have erected huts in the land in a bid to claim ownership.”
Mr. Nagarajan said that their demand was to ensure that only eligible SC families were allocated land. “Importantly, landless SC families in Attukulam must be included in the list of beneficiaries on priority since the land is in our village,” he said.
Following petitions by the affected people, the Revenue Divisional Officer of Melur convened a meeting last week, in which officials from ADTW department were asked to verify the beneficiaries list and remove the huts erected.
When contacted, a senior official from the district administration said, “The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court has also issued some directions in this regard. We will act accordingly and ensure that eligible beneficiaries get the land.”