CHINNAMUTHU, a cobbler aged about 70 years, sits under a tree near the bus stop of a small town on the Dindigul-Palani road. He is in a place where there is hardly any pedestrian movement and earns around Rs.15 a day to fend for himself and his small family in a nearby village.
Sixty-year-old Kalyani, wife of an agricultural worker, hawks odd things on the streets of Thriuppanandal, about 20 km from Kumbakonam, unmindful of the searing mid-day sun. The money she makes is barely enough for survival for her and her vision-impaired husband, an agricultural worker.
What is common between Chinnamuthu and Kalyani is not only their extreme poverty but also their status as victims of land grabbers. Chinnamuthu has been duped into parting with a piece of land he had been cultivating for many years, first as a registered tenant and then as an assignee of land meant for redistribution. Kalyani is yet to see the land assigned to her under the ceiling law 22 years ago, because it has not been officially handed over to her family. The land remains under the control of tenants and their relatives who were cultivating it before.
Hundreds of assignees in several parts of the State find themselves in similar straits, said G. Veerayyan, president, Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam. "Although the government reeled out figures to show that almost all land declared surplus under the Ceiling Act, barring those pending before the courts, had been distributed, the fact remains that in a large number of cases the assigned land had not been distributed, according to the information reaching us."
The Sangam has taken up two cases, to begin with. The first relates to about 2,023.42 hectares (5,000 acres) of land belonging to the erstwhile Neykkarappatti zamin in Periammapettai and a few surrounding villages in Dindigul district. A large extent of this land, which was declared ceiling-surplus is yet to be assigned. Among the few hundred acres assigned is Chinnamuthu's land.
Two types of irregularities have happened here, according to the Sangam activists. First, large tracks of land declared surplus have been kept undistributed for more than 22 years. Secondly, even in the case of the distributed land, measuring about 202 ha (500 acres), which was under cultivation by the assignees, several pieces of land are said to have changed hands, not always through legal means, in the last few years. Some local political leaders, including a former Member of Parliament, and a few government employees, are said to be among the new owners. A road, laid ostensibly to benefit visitors to a temple at Thannasikovil from Shanmugamparai abruptly ends in a farm, allegedly owned by the former M.P. Significantly, the road is said to have been constructed from "M.P.'s Constituency Development Fund."
A large number of assignees were tricked into signing away their rights on blank papers. Chinnamuthu was one among them. Adjacent pieces of land were annexed and a steel fence was erected. An orchard emerged in a compact 100-acre farm, making a mockery of the Land Ceiling Law. The land is irrigated by two borewells, which cost Rs.2 lakhs. The licences for power supply have been obtained in the name of the two assignees, Chinnamuthu and Solaiyammal. So, it is apparently a benami operation.
"Apparently, Chinnamuthu could not have dreamt of spending a lakh of rupees for irrigation of his tiny land [less than one ha] If only he had with him half this money, he might not have thought of disposing of the land," said N. Palanivel, former Member of the State Assembly. He suggested that the government extend some financial assistance to the poor agricultural workers when land is assigned to them.
The Sangam took up the issue some six months ago and demanded that all surplus land be assigned and all the assigned land be cleared of encroachments. After the failure of repeated meetings with government officials at various levels, the Sangam announced direct action on September 23. A large number of agriculturists led by its president K. Balakrishnan, treasurer P.S. Shanmugam and district unit secretary S. Pandian, entered the unassigned land raising slogans. In response, the government promptly ordered the take-over of the 500 acres of assigned land, now under the possession of non-assignees, and called for fresh assignment from the eligible agriculturists.
The Sangam also took up the case of the government's failure to give possession of 19 ha (47 acres) of wetland at Sikkanayakkanpettai, near Kumbakonam, to 94 assignees. This was part of the 44.64 ha (110.3 acre) land declared surplus from the holdings of Sadaya Pillai Dharma Trust as early as 1972.
Kalyani's husband is among the assignees here. The assignment was made in 1982 and pattas were given only in 1993, because of litigation. The land was not assigned even after the court's intervention because of the political influence enjoyed by a group of people close to one of the former cultivating tenants of the Trust property. This group is said to be still cultivating the land in question. The Sangam organised numerous rallies and demonstrations demanding that the land be cleared of encroachment. "After repeated negotiations, government officials have now told us that the assignees will get possession of the land in one or two months, possibly in November," said a Sangam functionary.
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