Cabinet decision to benefit scores of settlers in Idukki

Thiruvananthapuram: The state cabinet has decided to issue title deeds for all buildings (residential and commercial) having plinth area upto 1,500 sqft and situated on plots less than 15 cents which were granted under Land Assignment Rules of 1964.
However, the people will have to prove that this is the only source of livelihood for them and they have no land anywhere else in the state. For this, they will have to produce the necessary certificates from the concerned authorities.
The decision will benefit hundreds of settlers in Idukki and Wayanad districts who have been raising this demand for long. However, big constructions like resorts and bungalows won’t get benefit out of this. It has also been decided to attach those pattaya land which does not fall under the above category and has been used for commercial purposes after encroaching.
The cabinet decided to create a data bank of the land which has been encroached in Idukki. The district collector will be asked to submit a report on the exact details of the encroachment. Since the tenure of the Munnar tribunal has ended, all the cases will be returned to their respective courts from where it has come.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan while detailing the decisions in his post-cabinet press conference, said that the land issues in Idukki could not be compared with other districts. In Idukki, there are several people who are settlers. They have been residing in Idukki for decades but they have no records to prove it. Majority of them have come as plantation workers and they have been staying there for generations. These people have not received pattayams for the land they have been living on.