WARANGAL: Under the shadows of the state government’s prestigious Kakatiya Mega Textile Park (KMTP) near Chinthapalli village of Sangem mandal in Warangal district, farmers who gave up their land for the park awaiting the promised compensatory package.
The government had promised to allot residential plots at the rate of 100 yards per acre given up for the park, build a double bedroom house in the same plot and provide a job to a person in the family.
Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao laid the foundation for the KMTP on October 22, 2017. Till date, farmers are doing the rounds of offices to find out when and where they will be allotted the promised plots. Some are yet to receive complete payment.
“Sometimes I wonder if the government takes farmers for fools. When they needed land, they pleaded with us and convinced us with promises though we were reluctant to give it up. When we gave away the land, they are making us beg for our compensation,” said Routhu Nagaiah, an elderly resident of Kontepalli village who gave his land for the textile park.
Routhu Nagaiah
The former sarpanch minced no words in describing the attitude of the authorities and the local public representatives in addressing their woes. “Corrupt revenue authorities benefited the most from land pooling. They duped innocent farmers and earned a lot. Unless we fought, they did not give us compensation. We were exploited completely,” he alleged.
Sign board of the Kakatiya Mega Textile Park
Another farmer, Jakka Komuraiah, said he had arranged the wedding of his daughter after he received the initial compensation amount. After a few days, the officials withdrew the amount saying his land does not exist in the survey number. This is despite Komuraiah receiving a certificate of land acquirement. “I performed my daughter’s wedding by borrowing the money. I did not receive a single paise till date for the land I gave up,” he lamented.
Jakka Komuraiah
During the last five years, 900 farmers in the surroundings of Chinthapally gave their land for the KMTP. Only a few received the promised jobs and none of them were allotted plots despite charging for it from their compensation amount. With their livelihood taken away, these farmers are either working as daily wage workers or invested the money received for other forms of livelihood.
