Thiruvananthapuram: Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has written a letter to SC/ST development minister A. K. Balan demanding action against officials responsible for Kasaragod District Co-Operative Housing Society auctioning a tribal family's house and land for a paltry amount. He said it had left Valiyaveettil Rajan at Neeleswaram Meerkanth and his family on the streets. When the land value was Rs 30, 000 a cent, he alleged, the property was “auctioned for Rs 3,000 plus.”
“Mr Rajan had taken a loan of Rs 20, 000 in 2002 and he repaid Rs 8,410. Still, the society took away 25 cents of his land and auctioned off. The cooperative society was supposed to get Rs 77, 913 including interest amount and now the family is in the streets,” said Mr Chennithala. He said it was unfortunate that a cooperative society was charging such exorbitant interest which cannot be tolerated.
He said it’s shocking when there are measures like debt relief and it should be seen as land grabbing and those responsible should be booked for acting against tribals. He also wanted immediate steps to rehabilitate the family. Meanwhile, SC/ST development ministry officials told DC that the incident had not come to their notice. They said adequate steps would be taken to rehabilitate the tribal family and also provide justice to them as a tribal should not have been harassed. “It is unfortunate that such an incident had happened to a tribal family,” an official said.
