Residents of Navinipatti protested outside the District Collector’s office in Madurai on Monday, demanding to take their pattas back.
| Photo Credit: G. MOORTHY
Residents of Navinipatti who were beneficiaries of the free land patta scheme granted by the Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare Department staged agitation here on Monday demanding to take their pattas back.
Owing to prevailing law and order issues between the old and new beneficiaries, the protesters complained that they could not leave peacefully.
Chandrasekaran, one of the protesters, said, in 2001, the then Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, approved land for about 218 beneficiaries.
“Though they got the land pattas the land measurement was not proper. Due to that, the district Collectors in the following years cancelled the pattas in 2007,” he added.
As the residents went to the court, the court ordered them to reorder the lands for the beneficiaries.
“In the ensuing years, the district administration failed to take any steps towards resolving the issue,” he noted.
Mr. Chandrasekaran said, recently, in this government, a different set of land was granted to another group of beneficiaries.
“In this time too, the land was not measured properly. Due to which, there is an ongoing issue in sharing the land between the people occupying the area,” he stated.
As both district administration and police have not taken any fruitful actions in resolving the issue by deploying police or measuring the land properly, the residents have lost their peace in the recent days, he added.
“Demanding immediate action, we have decided to return our land pattas to the district administration,” he said.
Published – September 08, 2025 09:04 pm IST
