CPI urges CM to aid tenant farmers cultivating temple lands in Konaseema district

Party also seeks protection of the rights of the farmers over the lands in many villages of the district

The Communist Party of India (CPI) State secretary K. Ramakrishna has written a letter to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu urging him to take necessary steps to grant membership in primary cooperative credit societies to tenant farmers cultivating temple lands.

In the letter dated Friday, Mr. Ramakrishna said that the tenant farmers be provided with interest-free crop loans, and thereby encouraged to pursue agriculture. Additionally, as per RBI guidelines, crop loans of up to ₹1.60 lakh should be provided without any collateral, and immediate action should be taken in this regard, he said.

Mr. Ramakrishna said that in Antarvedi village, Sakhinetipalli mandal, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema district, about 1,200 acres of agricultural land belonging to the temples of Sri Lakshminarasimha Swamy, Sri Neelakantheshwara Swamy, Sri Raghavendra Swamy, and Sri Anjaneya Swamy were being cultivated by hundreds of poor farmers from Keshavadasupalem, Gondi, Shringavarappadu, and Antarvedi villages. These lands had been cultivated since 1956 with permanent rights granted by the Fair Rent Committee, and the prescribed rents were being paid. Four generations of these families had depended on these lands for their livelihood.

The tenant farmers cultivating these lands and those who had set up residences were regularly paying all types of taxes and rents.  However, revenue officials and temple authorities had issued notices stating that they had no rights over these lands and must vacate both the land and their homes, causing distress among the tenant farmers. It was unfair for the temple authorities to now claim that these families had no rights over the land they had been cultivating and residing on for generations, he said, adding, “We request your intervention to grant permanent cultivation rights to these poor tenant farmers and issue house titles to those living on the land.”

Published - December 13, 2024 08:05 pm IST