A development versus welfare debate has made headlines once again in Andhra Pradesh, after the Supreme Court refused to intervene in the state government’s decision to disburse house sites to the poor, from land that was previously earmarked for industries, businesses and other commercial purposes in the master plan for the Amaravati capital area.
On May 17, a Supreme Court bench hearing a batch of Special Leave Petitions (SLPs) filed by the farmers and landowners in Amaravati declined to grant a stay on an earlier order by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which permitted the state government to allocate housing sites to the economically weaker sections in the ‘R5 Affordable/EWS Housing Zone.’ However, the apex court also ruled that the rights of beneficiaries of house sites are subject to the Andhra Pradesh HC’s final judgement.
The R5 zone is a new housing zone for the poor that was recently carved out by the YSRCP government earlier this year. It includes over 900 acres of land, made up of plots that were earlier part of other zones — including a non-polluting industry zone, town centre zone, educational zone, business park zone etc. — and now converted to the R5 zone. The original master plan had been formulated under the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government led by former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, which had pooled land from farmers and landowners in the region. Those who pooled their lands were promised developed plots in an urbanised capital city. But all development activity was halted after the YSRCP came to power in 2019.
With the current government proposing to develop three capitals for the state, and shifting its focus to Visakhapatnam, there have been sustained protests in the Amaravati region demanding that it must be developed as the sole capital, as promised by the previous TDP government. Now, with the YSRCP government repurposing land meant for industrial purposes for an affordable housing project instead, they’re facing opposition yet again from those demanding urban and industrial development and other projects that would help increase the market value of land in the Amaravati region.
At the foundation stone ceremony of Machilipatnam port on Monday, May 22, the Chief Minister addressing the media, Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy termed the Amaravati capital as a “city of equality”. “The scheme is aimed at providing a decent living to the poor in Amaravati. The housing scheme will be launched in the city on May 26 where 50,000 poor people will be provided houses built at a cost of ₹5,000 crore,” he announced. He assured that his government will work to develop Amaravati as a "smart city" with all modern amenities.
Sajjala Ramakrishna, General Secretary and Adviser of Public Affairs for the ruling YSRCP party led by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, inspected the works at the layout on Friday, May 19. He then addressed the media and said, “In less than a year, a brand-new township with more than 50,000 families will be built, complete with 30 and 40-foot roads, drainage systems, electricity, and other modern conveniences.”
Meanwhile, the opposition in the state led by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had alleged that the Jagan government is mobilising the people to Amaravati to gain votes in the region in the face of strong protests from farmers. Condemning this, Sajjala said, “People will vote for whichever party they like.”
The Amaravati Farmers JAC and the TDP have opposed the state government's decision to distribute land among the Economically Weaker Sections, calling it a conspiracy to hinder the development of Amaravati into a capital city. They also questioned the necessity of the creation of a new housing zone when there is another zone called R3 which reportedly is near completion and can house nearly five thousand beneficiaries.
The original Amaravati Capital Region Master Plan has four types of residential zones – R1 (village planning Zone), R2 (low-density housing), R3 (low to medium-density housing), and R4 (high-density zone).
The state government amended the Plan by invoking the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) Act, which specifies that at least 5% of the total area of the scheme is for providing affordable housing for the poor. Accordingly, the government issued a draft notification in October 2022 and a final gazette on March 21 this year incorporating the R5 Zone of over 900 acres of land from U1 - reserved zone, C5 - regional centre zone, 13 - non-polluting industry zone, C4 - town centre zone, S2 - educational zone, I1 - business park zone and C3 - neighbourhood centre zone to R5 - Affordable/EWS Housing Zone.
It is to be noted that after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in 2014, it is the TDP that formed the first government in Andhra Pradesh and announced Amaravati as the capital city. The government also acquired around 35,000 acres of land from farmers and landowners through land pooling in the nearby Guntur–NTR districts and promised to return a reduced, developed piece of land with annual rent to the farmers.
Chilaka Basavaiah — the convener of the Dalit Bahujan JAC which has been opposing the allotment of house sites in the R5 Zone along with other groups of farmers and landowners who gave up their land under the TDP government’s land pooling scheme — said that a considerable number of people who gave up their lands under the TDP government’s land pooling scheme were small and marginal farmers who fall below the poverty line. “Most of the farmers were allocated returnable plots through a lottery system and the registration process was also done. However, it is difficult to identify their lands and make use of it for any kind of loan to avail,” he said. “The capital region would take more than two decades to develop. The farmers gave lands expecting a future for the next generations. The YSRCP government’s decision to allocate housing plots in the zone meant for investments is intended to kill the capital city. We will continue to express opposition to the move,” he added.
AP Professional Forum president Nethi Mahesh told TNM that the R3 zone already has residential plots. “The land allocated to the R5 zone by this government was originally meant for companies to invest in the development of the state. Rich landlords who belong to certain dominant castes gave huge land parcels during the previous government. However, they do not bother much as most of them are settled abroad. Thousands of small and marginal farmers are most affected since they gave away their fertile lands expecting a return through investments by the industries,” he said.
Speaking to TNM, Guntur District Collector M Venugopal Reddy said that nearly fifty thousand beneficiaries will be allotted a cent of land in the R5 zone. “The beneficiaries belong to the NTR and Guntur districts. Over twenty-three thousand plots are ready to be disbursed,” he said, adding that the government will soon disburse AP Township and Infrastructure Development Corporation (TIDCO) houses in R3 zones too.
Former bureaucrat EAS Sarma welcomed the move and said, “The government is implementing the move according to the APCRDA Act which says at least 5% of land should be allocated for housing for the poor. When a development activity takes place, several migrants are employed in construction work. They live in slums or very bitter conditions. Through this move, the government is providing housing to the poor who can get employment when the place develops.”
A senior journalist heading a Telugu daily opined that the farmers are forced to endure the wrath of the failure of former CM Chandrababu Naidu and the current CM Jagan Mohan Reddy. “The TDP government expected a victory a second time and pooled excessive lands from the farmers. In its term, it did not progress on its own plan for the capital. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who earlier voted for Amaravati as capital, opposed the move after forming the government as he saw the capital development would be to the opponent's credit. No one is at a loss except the farmers who gave land. Several farmers, who actually tilled those lands, were tenant farmers. They are the ones who lost livelihoods and are invisible in this discourse,” he said.
He added that the development of a place can only be made with the participation of the population and said, “People will come, and some development will take place. Anyway, the capital development in Amaravati is bleak.”