Minister ready to speak to tribal leaders
August 10, 1996.
By Mukram
Eluru, Aug 9: The Minister for Panchayat Raj, Mr. Kotagiri Vidyadhara Rao, in a exclusive interview to Chronicle, said the interests of the tribals would be protected and the provisions made in various Acts to safeguard tribal interests would be implemented. The rights of the non-tribals would also be protected as per the Constitution, he declared with reference to the recent flare-up in the agency tracts of West Godavari district between the tribals and non-tribals over a land dispute.
Mr. Vidyadhara Rao said justice would be done to both the sections and their rights would be safeguarded. He said he was ready to meet the tribal leaders and discuss their problems freely and frankly. The minister immediately contacted the district Collector on telephone and asked him to convene a meeting with the tribal leaders.
He said, once there was collective leadership, their leaders would have to be identified for holding talks. He said the talks would be held before the Assembly reconveres on August 19.
There was no question of sparing anybody who has violated the law, said the minister. This he said when asked about the criticism among the tribals but the government was being biased in arresting only the tribals.
He said the police have identified the non-tribals who damaged the property at the MRO office at Jangareddygudem and Jeelugumilli and ... would be nabbed soon. Non-bailable cases would be booked against those who realed havoc.
The minister said the agency the agency area was returning to normality. It would take time to settle the dispute and the problems of both the sections. |
Disputes that remain unresolved
The Hindu, August 13, 1996.
Hyderabad : In recent weeks, clashes are being reported between tribals and non-tribals in the agency tracts of East and West Godavari districts, following the decision of a sub-Collector at kovvur last . to dispossess a non-tribal of 20 acres of his land and distribute it among the tribals.
The Sub-Collector was later transferred, but the non-tribals fear that this is the beginning of a movement to dispossess non-tribals of their lands in the agency tracts of the State. In return, .. Non-Government Organizations such as Sakthi and Samatha, as well as the Pratighatana group of the Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) have organized public meetings and rallies, in places like Rajahmundry and Kakinada , to oppose any move by the Government to dilute the Regulation 1 of 1970.
The Regulation 1 of 1970 has had a chequered history. The Regulation prohibits alienation of any land in the agency areas, except to a tribal. Even if a non-tribal proves that he has acquired the land in question through lawful means, he cannot sell it to any non-tribal. The Andhra Pradesh High Court held that the Regulation does not have retrospective effect, enabling non-tribals to show that they acquired the land before 1970 and thereby insist on their right to sell their land to other non-tribals.
The Regulation 1 of 1970 also has a presumption clause adumbrated into it, thanks to the efforts of officers like Mr. S.. Sankaran, to say that 'any immovable property situated in the agency tracts, and in possession of a person, who is not a member of a Scheduled Tribe, until the contrary is proved, was presumed to have acquired by such a person through a transfer made to him by a member of a Scheduled Tribe.' The Constitution lists the Scheduled Areas of the State where this Regulation is in force. Today, the demand of non-tribals is to alter this list, on the ground that the population of people belonging to Scheduled Tribes in several villages in the list has dwindled to such a extent that does not merit notice.
Though such effective legislation has been adopted to protect tribal interests, the ground situation today is that 48 per cent of the cultivable land in the Schedule Areas are legally or illegally under cultivation by non-tribals. According to Dr. K.Mohan Rao of the Department of Tribal Welfare, out of the 18,48,000 acres in the Scheduled Areas a total of 7,53,435 acres are under non-tribal control. The ratio is 52 per cent in Khammam district (4,07,368 acres out of the total cultivable area of 7,71,604 acres), 60.6 per cent in Adilabad (1,80349 acres out of 2,97,170) and 71 per cent in Warangal (1,02,104 acres out of 1,42,533). These figures show that if anything, there is need for stricter implementation of the Regulation 1 of 1970, not for its relaxation!
The demand by tribals today is for assignment of Government poramboke land in Scheduled areas only to tribals, which is a justified demand, because the Regulation specifically states that all land is presumed to have been owned by tribals. Government poramboke land is slowly getting assigned to non-tribal traders, and then they are given pattas, enabling them to sell these lands. The demand that the non-tribal owners should be permitted to sell their lands to other non-tribals stems from the logic that the tribals are unable to purchase the land, and it is not economical to sell the land to the Government because the Department does not pay the market price. If the Government could acquire land for Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and the Srisailam Hydro Electric Project at Rs. 18,000 to Rs. 21,000 per acre, there is no reason why it cannot acquire land in the control of non-tribals at such market rates and re-assign them to tribals.
Any change in the Tribal Regulations should emanate from the Tribal Advisory Council, which consists of all the Scheduled Tribe Members of Andhra Pradesh Assembly, and enquiries show that there is no move to amend the Regulation 1 of 1970. A tribal MLA proposed modifying the Regulation, on the ground it was coming in the way of industrial development of the agency areas, but there was no response to his proposal from the other members. Even if the TAC makes a recommendation, the President has to give his assent before the recommendation becomes a law. An earlier attempt, during N.T. Rama Rao's time in 1988, to amend the Regulation to permit non-tribals to sell their lands to other non-tribals failed, because of opposition from voluntary organizations like AWARE, though the measure was pushed through the TAC with the support of the CPI, CPI(M), BJP, Congress(I) and Telugu Desam. The CPI(M) subsequently changed its stand and opposed the amendment.
Social activists such as Mr. Ravi Rebbapragada of Samata and Mr. Sivaramakrishna of Sakthi have succeeded in motivating tribal women against inroads into the Tribal Regulations. These organizations have filed cases against companies which have been assigned land in the agency tracts. A number of lawyers belonging to Scheduled Tribes also have come forward to raise their voice in protest against efforts at assigning Government poramboke land in ST areas to non-tribals. While their protest no doubt holds any attempt at diluting the Regulation at check, there is no motivation for the officials in charge of the agency areas to implement the Regulation in letter and spirit. An officer who does so finds himself transferred. |
