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Telangana adivasis to get title deeds of land for podu sowing
The beneficiaries were selected based on applications received in the past two years and scrutinised by forest and revenue department officials.
Hyderabad After years of struggle, adivasis of Telangana are going to get title deeds for the forest land in their possession in which they have been undertaking podu cultivation.
Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao will launch the distribution of title deeds to tribals in Asifabad district headquarters on June 30, the chief minister’s office said in a statement.
The distribution of title deeds will take place in other districts on the same day. Ministers and MLAs of their respective districts will take part in the ceremonies and hand over the pattas to the tribals, the statement said.
In all, 4,01,405 acres of forest land would be distributed among 150,224 adivasis in 2,845 tribal hamlets identified as having possession of these lands in which they have been doing podu cultivation, officials told the chief minister during a collectors’ conference held in May.
The beneficiaries were selected based on applications received in the past two years and scrutinised by forest and revenue department officials.
“Not just distribution of pattas for the forest lands to the Adivasis, the chief minister also decided to extend them financial assistance of ₹10,000 per acre per year under Rythu Bandhu scheme. He wanted the tribal welfare department and the district collectors to help open bank accounts in the name of each beneficiary as soon as the land titles were given so that the Rythu Bandhu assistance could also be remitted immediately,” the statement said.
Podu is a traditional form of shifting cultivation prevailing in the forest areas of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in which tribal farmers resort to cutting and burning trees to clear the land for cultivation of food grains, spices and vegetables.
The adivasis, mostly belonging to particularly vulnerable tribal groups like Koyas, Gonds and Kolamis, practice podu cultivation. The central government enacted a legislation in 2006, known as the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, or the Forest Rights Act (FRA), under which tribal farmers who had occupied forest lands for podu cultivation before 2005 would be given title deeds for up to four acres of land.
On February 13, 2019, the Supreme Court ordered all states to evict tribes who had occupied forest lands after 2005 and whose claims were rejected under law.
However, following an appeal by the central government, the apex court on February 28 granted a stay on the implementation of the order, directing the states to submit whether due process had been followed in rejecting claims. The case is still pending in the Supreme Court.
In September 2021, the Telangana government announced it would resolve the genuine demands of the adivasis on podu cultivation and asked them to submit applications to grant title deeds for podu lands. The applications were received between November 8 to December 8, 2021.
As many as 3.95 lakh applications were received for granting of title deeds for the occupied forest lands in different parts of the state, according to a forest department official familiar with the development. “In all, 12.60 lakh acres of forest land has been identified as under cultivation, mostly by adivasis,” he said, declining to be named.
In 2022, the government had formed a committee to look into the applications seeking ownership titles. “After scrutinising the applications, the department has identified 1.50 lakh beneficiaries in possession of over four lakh acres of podu land,” the official said. “If there are still any genuine applicants, they can still represent the government and, after scrutiny, they will also be given the title deeds.”
