1.55 lakh landless people get land: Minister

The government’s determination has led to 1.55 lakh landless people in the State getting land in the past four-and-a-half years, Minister for Revenue E. Chandrasekharan has said.

He was inaugurating the district-level distribution of title deeds at the Collectorate conference hall here on Tuesday. The Minister said delay in identifying land was delaying the distribution of title deeds in some places.

The government, he said, had been able to hand over title deeds and possession certificates to the landless in all 14 districts. Distribution of land in the southern districts was lesser than that in the other districts owing to lack of ‘puramboke’ land. Land with government departments and local self-government institutions too was being acquired to give it to the landless. In the northern districts, revenue land was available in plenty, the Minister said.

In the district, title deeds and other documents will be given to 500 people, bringing to an end a decades-long wait for them. As many as 2,004 landless had been given title deeds in the district since the present government came to power.

Special powers

The government specifically intervened in cases caught up in legal and other tangles for years. Seventy-five people were living on puramboke land on the Manacaud bund for three-and-a half decades. The government used its special powers to ensure rightful land for people at Balaramapuram, Attipra, and Manambur villages, Minister for Devaswoms Kadakampally Surendran, who presided over the function, said.

Ten people were distributed title deeds by Mr. Chandrasekharan.