The TDP government is playing every trick in the book to make its land pooling scheme a success.
17 villages have been identified so far in phase 1 of the land acquisition programme and needless to say, the government is meeting a lot of vehement resistance from the farmers.
However, what is of concern is the fact that the government is also throwing the ‘rule book’ to the wind in pursuit of realty-friendly, grandiose scheme.
According to the law, the government has to seek the approval of village Panchayat governing boards before going ahead with land acquisitions. So the village Panchayat Board has to pass a resolution in support of land acquisition.
But recently, Nidamarru village Panchayat in Mangalagiri Mandal passed a resolution opposing the land acquisition. This means that the Panchayat is legally against the scheme and hence the government cannot coerce them.
Worried at the outcome, the government passed orders to the Guntur ‘district administration’ to ensure that all village Panchayats’ secretaries do not record the resolutions against land pooling in their official log books.
So, when in Rayapudi, the village Panchayat body passed a similar resolution against land pooling, the village secretary refused to record it saying he had been directed to do so by his higher-ups. The village leaders brought the issue to the notice of mandal parishad development officer (MPDO) Balu Naik and demanded an explanation. Under pressure from the villagers, the MPDO gave an assurance in writing that he would get a clarification from senior officials.
Thus the government is trying to silence all opposition by destroying the democratic rights of the Panchayat bodies.
