Government mulls law to recover grabbed land

Vijayawada : The state government is mulling to bring in a new act to seize the properties that are forcibly taken away at gunpoint by mafia. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said on Wednesday that such an act exists in Maharashtra and the government was examining it.

At a media conference at the party headquarters, Naidu said in the past a few land-grabbing cases were recorded but there were never instances of political power being misused to grab property, including the SEZ land at Kakinada. He said legal opinion was also being sought to see if this issue comes under the present Land Grabbing Act or not. The CID had already filed a case, and the matter was under investigation and justice would be done to those who lost their property, he said.

The Chief Minister said the officials would be sending rice samples collected from the seized ship Stella to a lab to find out how much of the quantity loaded rice was from the Public Distribution System. It would take about a week to get the report, he said.

He said efforts were to settle genuine complaints on land grabbing. “More clarity on this issue would emerge after the Revenue Sadassus to be held from December 6 were held,” he said. Naidu cautioned the officials who were still not able to get out of the old habit of lethargic and negligent attitude. He said passing the file to another officer was no solution to the problem and such an attitude should stop before the government cracks the whip.

When asked about the review of power sector agreements made by the previous government, Naidu said a detailed study into the agreements was being made and legal opinion was also being sought. They cannot be blindly cancelled as they could lead to legal problems.

The Chief Minister said the government is keen on supplying free sand and the vehicles supplying free sand can transport without any hindrance by displaying a board ‘free sand truck’.

He said steps have been taken to speed up paddy purchase and the farmers can register their names through WhatsApp for paddy sale and they will get a message through IVRS. If there are any irregularities, the farmers can complain on WhatsApp for immediate action.