Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy initiated the process of distributing land through Recognition of Forest Right (RoFR) to 1.53 lakh tribals from 3 lakh acres of forest land on Friday.
Reddy launched the distribution of documents (pattas) through a video conference on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary.
Each of the eligible tribals will get ownership of at least two acres of land, which will be distributed through digitized surveys.
Reddy saw the problems the tribals faced during his more than 3,000 km padayatra and promised to help them.
“Tribals kept waiting all these years, fighting for their rights. For the last ten years (2009 to 2019), the previous governments did not take any steps to address their grievances. Today, we fulfilled the promise and made sure that these tribals get their land,” said Reddy.
The government will also distribute pattas to DKT lands, other than the forest lands which are also cultivated by them.
As many as 19,919 tribal families are set to benefit from 31,155 acres of DKT lands.
He said the state government would also provide financial assistance to the tribals to cultivate crops.
Deputy Chief Minister and Tribal Welfare Minister Pamula Pushpa Sreevani said Reddy is giving more land to tribals than what his late father and former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy had distributed.
“While YSR (Reddy’s father) gave RoFR pattas for 1.30 lakh acres of land to 56,000 tribals in the past, this government, under the leadership of CM Jagan, will distribute pattas for nearly 3 lakh acres to 1.53 lakh beneficiaries,” she said.
Likewise, Sreevani said the government has deposited Rs 2,136 crore into the bank accounts of 18.4 lakh tribals under 15 welfare schemes such as rythu bharosa, pension, vahana mitra, ammavodi and vidya deevena in the past one year.
“The government is taking every initiative to improve the living standards of tribals and setting up educational institutions and health facilities for them,” she said.
Besides RoFR, Reddy has also laid the foundation stone for a tribal engineering college at Kurupam, a medical college in Paderu and also seven super specialty hospitals under the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA).
“Aiming to provide better education facilities in the tribal areas, we have taken various measures in setting up a medical college which will be built at Paderu at a cost of Rs 500 crore, said the CM.
He said work on the tribal engineering college in Kurupam village will also start soon.
In addition to these educational institutions, the government has decided to begin work on the seven multi-specialty hospitals at Seethampeta, Parvathipuram, Doranala, Buttaigudem, and Rampachodavaram.
