In a move to mobilise revenue amid the economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Telangana government has decided to sell government lands. A Government Order (GO) has been issued, laying out the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for nodal agencies for “disposal of government land parcels under the control of various departments which are not required for any public purpose, located in various prime areas scattered throughout the state by open public auction.” The move aims to raise Rs 20,000 crore through the sale of lands.
However, the move is being contested by Dalit activists, who allege that the government is showing interest in selling public lands to rich people at cheaper rates but not in distributing lands to Scheduled Castes (SCs), as promised earlier by the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). In 2014, the TRS government led by the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) had announced a scheme to give each landless Dalit family 3 acres of land. The scheme had given powers to District Collectors to purchase agricultural lands at a cost ranging from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 7 lakh per acre in 30 districts, excluding Hyderabad, Bhadradri Kothagudem and Medchal.
Activists say that the latest move is hypocritical as when they asked authorities about the land purchase and distribution scheme seeing slow progress, officials said that private parties were not showing interest in selling their lands. Speaking to TNM, National Secretary of Dalit Bahujan Front (DBF) P Shankar said that, "The government officials, when demanded for distribution of 3 acres as promised, claimed that the owners are not ready to sell the lands. In the case of unavailability of private lands, why don't they distribute government lands which they want to sell through auctions?" He added, "When there were no lands to distribute to the landless Dalits, how come there are land to auction and sell to the rich?"
According to official data, in the last seven years (2014-15 to 2021-2022), as many as 6,881 landless Dalit beneficiaries were given over 16,820 acres of land in which 239 acres was government land, while the remaining was purchased from private parties.
For the latest scheme, each district is expected to prepare a list that consists of litigation-free saleable government land-bank of 1,000 acres.
According to Dr Siliveru Harinath, senior research fellow at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) at Hyderabad, there is 1.39 lakh acres of government land that meets the criteria available in the state, while there is another 10.64 lakh acres of land composed of rocks and hills. Dr Harinath said, "The government is depending on private land owners to distribute land to SCs despite having government lands available, and this has resulted in a loss to the state exchequer. The fresh move to auction government lands will only handicap the possibility of land reforms for future needs."
Dravida Bahujana Samiti (DBS), which is protesting against the government's decision, alleged that government claims of selling the lands in the name of revenue mobilisation was suspicious. DBS founder president Dr Jilukara Srinivas said, "The government lands are assets of the people. The state, selling them as per its wish, is undesirable. The lands should be distributed to landless Dalits and other landless farming communities and the remaining should be preserved for future purposes."
Recently, the State Finance Minister justified the government’s decision, saying that lands were being sold for the development of the state and for the implementation of welfare programs for the poor, while alleging that the Congress had sold nearly 88,000 acres of Telangana land in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, to spend on the development of the Andhra region.
However, Dr Dasoju Sravan Kumar, All India Congress Committee (AICC) spokesperson said that the Congress had merely transferred lands for wealth creation, attract investments and generate employment but had not sold lands like the way TRS is trying to do. In a statement, AICC spokesperson Dr Dasoju Sravan Kumar demanded that the government withdraw its decision immediately or face the wrath of the public.
Dr Dasoju further accused TRS of hypocrisy over land selling. He said, "On July 18, 2012, TRS party leaders including KT Rama Rao and Padma Rao staged a dharna in front of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Agency (HMDA) office, demanding the then government led by Kiran Kumar Reddy not to sell lands. But now, the TRS, forgetting the past, is going to sell the lands. It shows their hypocrisy and double standards."