The government programme has turned the land patta distribution drive into an election campaign, says CPI(M) leader Ch. Babu Rao.
| Photo Credit: File Photo
CPI(M) State secretariat member Ch. Babu Rao has said that the ‘Pedalaku Pattabhishekam’ programme organised by the Andhra Pradesh government benefited only a small section of the poor, while leaving a majority disappointed.
“The government programme turned into an election campaign,” Mr. Babu Rao told the media on Thursday.
He claimed that of the 26,401 beneficiaries announced for Vijayawada, only 2,586, or about 9%, were newly identified beneficiaries, while the rest had received land titles earlier and were being issued documents again.
He alleged that even the 2,586 newly identified beneficiaries were given only information documents, indicating their eligibility, rather than registered title deeds.
Mr. Babu Rao said thousands of poor families living along the Krishna river and canal bunds, railway lands and in around 50 other colonies had not been issued even such documents, citing the status of their occupation as objectionable encroachments.
Claiming that around 20,000 people in the city were affected, he alleged that nearly 50,000 homeless poor in Vijayawada and about 1 lakh in NTR district had not been provided house sites.
The CPI(M) leader questioned the government’s claim of distributing land worth ₹52,000 crore to the poor and asked why registration of the properties and provision of loans had not been undertaken earlier.
He demanded that all eligible beneficiaries be given registered titles before the notification for local body elections and that financial assistance of at least ₹5 lakh be provided for the construction of houses.
Mr. Babu Rao demanded two cents of house-site for every homeless poor family in urban areas and three cents in rural areas, referring to assurances made by the coalition government. He suggested that available government land, including the Disneyland site in Vijayawada, be considered for allotment to the homeless poor.
On restrictions on the sale or transfer of allotted properties, he questioned the rationale for denying beneficiaries full rights for two years after registration, while government land leased to industrialists could be used for raising loans.
Mr. Babu Rao criticised the Chief Minister’s appeal to the beneficiaries to share their experiences through social media reels.
The CPI(M) would continue campaign for house-sites, land titles and registration for the poor and sought public participation in the movement, he said.
Published – October 01, 2026 07:47 pm IST
