Singukandam, a village in Chinnakkanal panchayat in Idukki district with about 250 families, has been in the news for the decades-long struggle of the residents demanding title deeds for their land.
The history of the village suggests that the area derived its name from one Teja Singh who lived here in the 1960s. Born Ramankutty, he embraced Sikhism and went on to live here for decades as a Sikh.
N.M. Sreekumar, grandson of Teja Singh and Chinnakkanal panchayat president, says Ramankutty hailed from Cherthala in Alappuzha district. “After marriage, he reached Guruvayur and attempted to enter the temple pond, but authorities prevented him saying he was from a lower caste. He met a Sikh there and moved to Punjab before the 1940s and embraced Sikhism and returned to Kerala and entered the temple pond. It was way of his protest against the temple authorities,” says Mr. Sreekumar.
Teja Singh initially reached Anachal, near Munnar, around 1947 and later moved to Singukandam. He called the area ‘flower estate’ and the village came to be known as Singukandam after his death.
Teja Singh lived in a paddy field and the local people used to call Singh Achan. The area where he lived later came to be known as Singukandam.
Sreekumar says families here have been eagerly waiting for title deeds for their land for years. “Settler farmers have been living in the area before 1970s,” he says.
P.N. Sunil, a resident of Singukandam, says the area, including Ward 9 where Teja Singh’s house is situated, comes under Chinnakkanal panchayat.
“House No. 106 of Teja Singh was included in the 1964-69 assessment register in Santhanpara panchayat in Kottayam district. We have a copy of the register. Revenue officials say there were no settlements in the area before 1977. Info obtained on a Right to Information Act query showed that 440 families in Singukandam had 982 voters. The Revenue and Forest departments have formed a project to evict the people here, which is the reason for denying title deeds,” says Sunil.
A senior Revenue official says land in Singukandam has been recorded as michabhoomi (surplus land) in the land register. “Land in Singukandam have been encroached upon by settlers after 1/1/1977, which is a hurdle in issuing title deeds,” says the official.
However, farmers at Singukandam are on a relay hunger strike under the banner of the Chinnakkanal land protection movement after a revenue special task force served an eviction eviction on 12 of them.
The people of Singukandam were also on the frontline of the protest demanding the capture of tusker Arikompan.
