Efforts are on under the leadership of District Collectors and Revenue officials to find land for all landless people in the State by June 2019, Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan has said.

Opening a pattaya mela at the Town Hall here on Monday, the Minister pointed out that around 4,00,000 people would benefit from the initiative.

Surplus land

“Around 1,00,000 people in the State are yet to get title deeds, and the government is confident of clearing them,” Mr. Chandrasekharan said.

Presenting a detailed report on Kerala’s housing scenario, the Minister said 85,00,000 citizens in the State had their own land and houses.

“Of them, around 11,00,000 have settled abroad. The government will identify surplus land and allocate it to landless people,” he added.

Expressing satisfaction over the increasing number of voluntary land donors, the Minister said it would be unfair to have landless people in a State where the historic Land Reforms Act was implemented.

“At the same time, it is disappointing that a lot of people are yet to get title deeds despite possessing land for decades,” he noted.

On the current status of title deed distribution in the State, Mr. Chandrasekharan said the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had already handed over 73,000 title deeds to eligible land holders.

“By the end of this fiscal, the government will be able to hand over 30,000 title deeds, achieving one of the biggest targets in just two years of assuming power,” he added.

As many as 1,504 title deeds were handed over at the pattaya mela. Minister for Transport A.K. Saseendran handed over the deeds.

A majority of those who received the documents on Monday were from poor economic background and settled in Poramboke land for years.

Minister for Excise and Labour T.P. Ramakrishnan chaired the inaugural event. District Collector Seeram Sambasiva Rao, Mayor Thottathil Raveendran, and MLAs representing various assembly constituencies were present.