ONE lakh acres of land in Kadapa, the home district of YS Jaganmohan Reddy, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh have been said to be grabbed by bigwigs, mafia and non-local industrialists. CPI(M) delegation comprising BV Raghavulu, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member, Party district secretary Anjaneyulu, state committee member Narayana and other leaders visited the villages in Rajampet revenue division  on October 14 and met the farmers and people. The local people explained to them about the land grab and illegal/forced transfers. They complained that the government officials instead of handing over the lands to the poor, have been filing false cases and harassing them. They showed their title deeds and other documents to the CPI(M) delegation.

Raghavulu wrote a letter to the Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy urging him to constitute a high level enquiry into the issue of land grab/fraud of about one lakh acres in 16 mandals of Rajampet division. He mentioned that the rich of that area and also from far off places like Hyderabad have grabbed the lands and in some cases, illegal transfers took place with the connivance of revenue officers, as the local people explained him. It was learnt that the local poor complained the district collector and other officers with documental evidence in 2017, but could get no action. At one stage, at the orders of the then collector, RDO undertook survey of Akkemgundla, Savisettipally etc villages and submitted a report to the government. But nothing has been done on that and it was not even made public. In this background, Raghavulu urged the CM to constitute a high level enquiry, as he had assured of providing a transparent and clean administration to the state. By doing so, the fraud will be exposed and with rectification of land records, YS Jagan will be giving a strong message to the state and the nation as well, as Kadapa is the home district of CM, Raghavulu mentioned. Raghavulu urged the CM in his letter, to instruct the district officials not to harass the local farmers tilling the lands.

The AP Agriculture Workers’ Union conducted a dharna at the Kadapa collectorate on October 21, in which huge number of poor people attended. They demanded pattas for the tillers and to constitute an enquiry into the land grab in Rajampet mandal. The in-charge collector announced that the concerned revenue officials will conduct a full day review regarding land matters on November 2, and after that they will be corrected accordingly. V Venkateswarlu, state secretary of AIAWU, speaking in this connection congratulated the agitating poor people and requested them to continue the struggle till justice is done.