A farmer from Narsimhulupet in Telangana’s Mahabubabad district dug a grave and attempted to bury himself in protest after he was allegedly denied land documents by the tehsildar. He was rescued by onlookers.
Meka Prabhakar Reddy, a farmer from Ramannagudem village, alleged that the tehsildar denied him a pattadar passbook (land document), although he is the owner.
A farmer in #Mahabubabad district of #Telangana tried to bury himself for not issuing his land passbook. Farmer alleged that local MLA and his brother stalled the passbook. The man dug up a well and tried to bury himself. pic.twitter.com/qssR8QjJUG
— Aneri Shah (@tweet_aneri) October 1, 2019
According to reports, Prabhakar is embroiled in a land dispute with his two siblings over 15 acres of land which they inherited. Prabhakar claimed that one of his brothers colluded with a local politician in order to ensure that Prabhakar doesn’t get the land document.
“15 acres of land was split among us three brothers in 2001. In 2010, my brother stopped cultivating and complained that the land was in poor condition. At the time, elders in the community addressed the issue and we had an agreement, but my brother didn’t honour it. I already have the patta for 5.26 acres on my name. When I approached the tehsildar, he denied me the passbook, and said the local MLA doesn't want me to get it,” Prabhakar said in a video.
In the video, Prabhakar went on to add that he receives assistance from the Rythu Bandhu scheme (the Telangana government’s financial assistance scheme for farmers) but did not get the pattadar passbook.
“The Joint Collector inquired into the incident. The brothers have had a family dispute since 2017 because of which the passbook couldn’t be issued. Only if all three members consent will the passbook be issued. The family has said that they will resolve the dispute,” a source told TNM.
Land related controversies are common in Telangana. To address this, the state government said that it would bring in a new Revenue Act to address irregularities and provide solutions to the issues of farmers. Minister for Municipal Administration & Urban Development, Industry & Commerce and IT K Tarakarama Rao earlier said, “As a permanent solution to land title related issues, the Telangana government is set to bring in a new Revenue Act soon.”