5 lakh landless farmers to get 2 acre of land each: CM

Chennai, Aug 1 (UNI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today announced in the State Assembly that 5,00,000 families of poor landless farmers in the state would be given two acres of land each, under the Wasteland Development Scheme in the first phase which would commence soon.

A day after opposition leader and former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa said the scheme was not feasible, Mr Karunanidhi, making a suo motu statement, said the Government was all set to launch the much awaited scheme, DMK's yet another popular poll promise.

He said the Government had already collected statistics relating to the availability of wasteland and in the first phase, wastelands would be developed into cultivable lands and then it would be distributed to the 5,00, 000 landless farmers, free of cost.

Preliminary work towards this step had already started, he added.

Mr Karunanidhi said in the last one month, revenue officials, headed by District Collectors have collected statistics relating to the availability of wastelands. The statistics revealed that there were 1.95 lakh acres of ''Government poromboke'' land in the State.

Apart from this, 98,000 poor farmers have encroached upon 67,000 acres of Government poromboke land and 4.25 lakh small and marginal farmers owned seven lakh acres of patta land, he said.

The process of developing 1.95 lakh ''government poromboke'' land into cultivable land and distributing the same to the poor landless farmers have commenced, he said, adding the lands encroached upon by the poor farmers would be developed and returned to them.

In respect of patta land, he said if the families of the poor farmers, who own patta land, come forward on their own will to get their land developed into cultivable land, such land would be developed by the Government and would be returned to them.

UNI GV/WS PR RN1509