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Two weeks after the Telangana government razed around 700 houses in Velugumatla, Khammam, evicting nearly 2000 people, house pattas were distributed to 412 of the displaced persons on March 11.
The demolitions took place on February 24 in Vinoba colony in Velugumatla village — a colony built on land distributed under the Bhoodan and Gramdan Act. The state government carried out the demolitions claiming that the land has been encroached upon.
Distributing the house pattas along with Ministers Tummala Nageshwara Rao and Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy in Khammam, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said that the government would build a model colony for the evictees.
The remaining land taken over by the government would be used to build a Telangana Public School and other government educational institutions, he said.
Among the evicted families, 412 were found eligible for government housing schemes through a recent survey, The Hindu reported. Among them, 311 families were sanctioned houses under the Indiramma Illu housing scheme on Bhoodan lands in Velugumatla. The remaining 101 families were sanctioned houses in their respective villages.
The Deputy CM asked officials to complete the construction of houses by December 9.
The Bhoodan and Gramdan Act was passed by the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh state government in 1965 and subsequently adopted by Telangana after bifurcation.
Under the Act, a parcel of land is given as a gift or bhoodan in keeping with the 1951 Bhoodan Movement initiated by freedom fighter Vinoba Bhave. The Act enables the legal transfer of donated land to a Bhoodan Board for redistribution to landless, poor farmers.
