SHG Women Protest Over Land Compensation Near Kavali
The women said many of them were illiterate and accused officials of manipulating records to deny them compensation
Nellore: Women belonging to a self-help group (SHG) from Chennayapalem village in Kavali mandal staged a protest on Thursday demanding compensation for the land they claim to have cultivated for over three decades.
The protesters marched from the village to the fields and raised slogans asserting that the land belonged to them and that their names had been unfairly excluded from the compensation list.
They said 133.99 acres in Survey Nos. 396–402 were allotted to them about 30 years ago under a women’s savings bank initiative, and that they had worked hard to make the fields cultivable.
They alleged that despite being in possession of the land for more than 30 years, their names do not appear in the revenue records.
The women said many of them were illiterate and accused officials of manipulating records to deny them compensation.
However, with the land now being acquired for the BPCL project, they were informed that they were not eligible for compensation as the lands were not on their names as per revenue records. They also alleged that some leaders had registered the land in their own names in the revenue records.
Educated among the women maintain that they are entitled for compensation and rehabilitation upon land acquisition under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Act, 2013 of Andhra Pradesh.
As per the Act, individuals, including assignees or those lacking formal patta, who have been in continuous, long-term possession (often interpreted as over 10-12 years) of assigned or government land are entitled for compensation and rehabilitation.
The protesters said they had already submitted petitions to the MLA, district collector and officials at the state secretariat. They urged Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan to intervene and ensure justice to them.