Indiramma housing scheme shock: Thousands of Kothagudem families set to miss out on Rs 5 lakh aid

The issue arises from the lack of pattas for the land where poor families have built sheds or huts, as these lands fall under the 1/70 Act (AP Scheduled Areas Land Transfer Regulation Act 1959-Amendment 1/1970), which controls the transfer of tribal land to non-tribals in agency villages. Additionally, those living on SCCL lands in areas like Kothagudem, Yellandu, and Manugur cannot register the land as it is owned by the company.

Kothagudem: Even as the State government is carrying out a survey for sanctioning Rs 5 lakh to the poor for constructing houses under Indiramma Housing Scheme, many of the eligible families in the district are unlikely to benefit from it.

The reason for this is lack of pattas for the piece of land on which the poor families built either sheds or huts as the lands fall under the 1/70 Act (AP Scheduled Areas Land Transfer Regulation Act 1959-Amendment 1/1970), which regulates transfer of tribal land to non-tribals in agency villages. Similarly the poor who are in occupation of SCCL lands in areas like Kothagudem, Yellandu and Manugur could not get the lands registered as they are owned by the company.

According to officials, as many as 2.73 lakh applications were submitted for Indiramma houses across the district and the survey of 37, 000 applications completed so far. In Kothagudem municipality over 12, 000 applications were submitted while over 2, 500 applications were from seven municipal wards in Ramavaram area. Nearly 90 percent of the applicants, who have land, lack pattas making them ineligible for the scheme.

Kothagudem municipal chairperson, Kapu Seethalakshmi with reference to Ramavaram said the applicants living in the area for years only have power bills and municipal tax receipts. But the officials are asking them to provide D-Form patta (issued for land assigned to the poor on government or assigned lands) and registration deed to accept their applications.
The officials, who are fully aware of the facts related to the land possession, carried out surveys in the area and then denied their applications. If the poor in Ramavaram are not eligible why the officials did carry out surveys just to create false hopes of owning a house, she posed while asking the government to take steps to address the issue.
During the YSR regime around 1, 800 Indiramma houses were sanctioned in the area; now why the Congress government imposing restrictions on sanctioning Indiramma houses in the area, she sought know while demanding the government to give a clear assurance to the applicants on accepting their applications and then proceed with the survey.

A former municipal floor leader, M Venkateshwarlu wanted the local MLAs and MP to take the matter to the notice of the government to get it resolved. A tribal activist, Bhukya Ramesh also asked the government to consider the applications submitted by non-tribals for Indiramma houses in agency areas and in Ramavaram as a special case to sanction the houses.