BHADRACHALAM: Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy said the independence achieved through great struggles of freedom movement would have a meaning only when poverty is eradicated.

Giving away the rights deed (Hakku param) issued to the tribal beneficiaries restoring their rights on the forest lands under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, at a public meeting here, he said poverty eradication would be possible only with distribution of lands.

Record

He said that over 32,000 tribal families from Khammam, Warangal and West Godavari districts were given the “hakku patram” enabling them to assert their right over 3.30 lakh acres of forest land. It would go down the history as a great event.

It would merit a mention in the Guinness Book of records as well.

The tribals had got their rights restored in over 2.5lakh acres in Khammam, 59,000 acres in Warangal and 20,000 acres in west Godavari. It is no mean achievement and we take pride in being part of the great exercise, declared the Chief Minister.

He said that the tribes cultivating the forest lands rather clandestinely till now, have become the rightful owners of the land because of the implementation of the Forest Rights Act.

20 lakh acres

The Congress government had distributed 20 lakh acres of land during the past five years (Out of 66 lakh acres distributed so far in the State after Independence). Another three lakh acres would be distributed in couple of weeks.

The Chief Minister said that Andhra Pradesh was in the grip of severe drought-like conditions and completion of the irrigation projects taken up by the State government would help tackle drought.

LI scheme

Over three lakh acres of land in Khammam would get irrigation facility under the Rajiv Sagar lift scheme.

The works on the lift scheme were in full progress, the Chief Minister added.

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