Tribal villagers of Anakapalli district in Andhra Pradesh demand restoration of land pattas

The tribal people of Ramannadorapalem village in Kotnabilli panchayat of Ravikamatham mandal in Anakapalli district staged a protest on August 12 (Monday), seeking restoration of land pattas issued on their names. They alleged that the pattas were omitted from the Record of Rights (ROR) during the land resurvey exercise undertaken by the previous YSRCP government in Andhra Pradesh.

The tribal people of Ramannadorapalem village in Kotnabilli panchayat of Ravikamatham mandal in Anakapalli district staged a protest on August 12 (Monday), seeking restoration of land pattas issued on their names. They alleged that the pattas were omitted from the Record of Rights (ROR) during the land resurvey exercise undertaken by the previous YSRCP government in Andhra Pradesh.

The protesters said that 30 families belonging to the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) Kondhu tribe had been cultivating cashew nuts and paddy in the village for the past four decades. “The government issued us pattas between 1978 and 1988 and our names were registered in the Webland records,” the villagers said, adding that they had all documents to claim possession of the land.

The villagers said that they had submitted all documents including pattadar passbooks, Aadhaar cards and photos to the revenue official who visited their village during the land resurvey programme.

After the resurvey, they alleged, the details of the pattas issued to the tribal beneficiaries were not registered in the records. The tribals had taken loans by mortgaging their lands and the bank officials sought that the tribal people should either repay the loans or submit the 1B records for their land.

The villagers said that they apprised Andhra Pradesh ST Commission Chairman Sankara Rao of their problems when the latter visited their village on February 19, 2024. Mr. Sankara Rao directed the Anakapalli Collector to launch a probe on the complaints and submit a report to him.

“The Anakapalli Tahsildar got a survey done on March 14, 2024. Based on the survey, he reported to the Collector that the land was under the cultivation of the tribal people and recommended that pattas could be granted to the tribals,” the protesters said.

Deploring the non-restoration of pattas even after five months of submission of the report, the tribal villagers said that this was preventing them from registering for e-crop scheme and obtaining bank loans.