Former minister and senior Congress leader Kagodu Thimmappa has urged the State Government to clear the bagairhukum applications, seeking grant of land without much delay. He also appealed to the government to accept fresh applications for land.
Mr. Thimmappa spoke after accepting felicitation for being conferred the D. Devaraj Urs award in a programme in Shivamogga on Saturday. He said, “The government should form committees to grant land as soon as possible. The legislators should hold the meetings and clear the applications. The MLAs should hold the meetings at least once a week. I issued guidelines on clearing the applications when I was minister for the Revenue Department. The legislators and officers should exhibit commitment to giving land to the landless.”
The former minister suggested another opportunity for the bagairhukum cultivators to apply for the land grant. “Give them time for three or six months to submit applications”, he said.
Further on the issue of forest land granted to people displaced due to the construction of reservoirs, Mr. Thimmappa said the issue could be resolved by putting pressure on the Central Government. “Shivamogga Lok Sabha member B.Y. Raghavendra should raise this issue in parliament. Similarly, if necessary, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should take out a delegation to the Prime Minister and place the demand before him and get the issue resolved”, he suggested.
Minister for School Education and Literacy Madhu Bangarappa said that he had been advised by Kagodu Thimmappa all along his political career. Because of his inspiration, he cleared the highest number of bagairhukum applications in the Sorab constituency in his previous term as MLA. Further, he said, he would work towards fulfilling the demands of the farming community in the district.
In his address, senior journalist Dinesh Aminmattu lamented that the purpose of the land reforms had been diluted over the years in the form of amendments that allowed people with higher incomes to purchase agricultural land. “We are felicitating Kagodu Thimmappa at a time when the achievements accomplished by socialists like him are losing ground gradually”, he opined.
Former chairmen of the Legislative Council D.H. Shankaramurthy, B. L. Shankar, former ministers K. S. Eshwarappa, Araga Jnanendra, Kimmane Ratnakar, Lok Sabha member B.Y. Raghavendra, former MLC R.K. Siddaramanna and others were present.
