Anantapur: Novel initiatives by Joint Collector Kethan Garg yielding good results

Anantapur : Plugging loopholes in civil supplies and in the distribution of subsidised rice, the flagship programme of the YSRCP government, constitution of mandal squads to check rice smuggling and diversion, promotion of millets as alternative to the infamous traditional groundnut crop and cleansing of land disputes and revenue rut through the revolutionary resurvey are some of the issues tackled and being addressed by the young, pragmatic and low profile Joint Collector Kethan Garg, who remained in his position even after districts reorganisation and carving out of the new Sathya Sai district.

The mandal level squads to check rice smuggling and diversion to private business houses has paid rich dividends during the past couple of years. The effective implementation of subsidised rice scheme has vanished starvation and hunger pangs among those languishing in stark poverty.

The joint collector is pushing millets as an alternative to the traditional groundnut crop which is betraying the trust of farmers due to erratic monsoon which is playing truant and hide and seek with the farmers, who are in a losing position year after year. Being the International Year of Millets, Kethan Garg is pushing four millets Ragi, Korralu and Bajra including red gram, for which the government is giving a buy back guarantee. This scheme is being promoted by government to end agri-crisis and farmers suicides. Talking to The Hans India, Kethan Garg said that land resurvey has done wonders and many land and border disputes had been solved automatically ending years of unrest and litigation among poor farmers.

Land scams by vested interests had been tackled and exposed by the resurvey which set the records straight. Kethan took special interest in reaching out to the homeless by issuing land pattas to 90 per cent of prospective beneficiaries and arrangements are being made to give land pattas on a saturation mode.

A record number of 1.22 lakh acres had been removed from the dotted lands ending gloominess out of thousands of poor, small and marginal landowners. He has also taken steps to empower tenant farmers through the Jeevan Rekha Farmers Society by organising loans to nearly 8,000 tenant farmers.