Hyderabad/New Delhi
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, popular as KCR, has informed the Telangana Assembly that his Government will start the process of allotting 11.5 lakh acres of Podu land to tribals from this month end. KCR said his government will provide not just ‘pattas’ (titles) to the tribals tilling these lands but also supply electricity and extend benefits of Rythu Bandhu, the investment support scheme for farmers, to them. The Chief Minister also announced that the landless tribals and those who do not have livelihood opportunities would be extended Girijan Bandhu on the lines of Dalit Bandhu.
What Is Podu Land?
Podu is the practice of shifting cultivation on forest land by tribals, and even non-tribal forest dwellers. They raise crops on a piece of land for one season and move to a different location the next. It generally involves different areas of forest being cleared by burning each year to provide land for crops. Such land on which shifting cultivation is done is called Podu Land.
The Numbers & Impact
The Telangana Government’s survey found out that of the total 66 lakh acres of forest land in the State, 11.5 lakh acres are Podu land. This means, shifting cultivation has wiped out 1/6th of Telangana’s forests. Massive deforestation has attained alarming proportions.
What’s The Present Scenario?
Like KCR said there have been cases in some districts where upper-caste men have married tribal girls to encroach on Podu and tribal land. Influential persons like politicians and non-tribals too have encroached upon forest land on the pretext of shifting cultivation. Till 2022, the State Government received some 3.5 lakh applications to regularise 13 lakh acres. There have been regular demands to solve the Podu Land issue.
Objective & Road Ahead
The KCR Government now wants to protect the forests and prevent large encroachments of forest land, especially by non-tribals. But the Chief Minister has made it clear, the allotment of titles will be only after an all-party meeting and the tribals give an undertaking that there would be no more claims in the future. Signatures of village committees and local public representatives will also be taken on the undertaking. The CM asked them to work as protectors of forests and prevent cutting of trees and encroachments once Podu land is distributed.
Political Implications
Telangana goes to Assembly polls later this year. Thus the move, which could go a long way in preventing further deforestation, is seen more in a political perspective, one which is aimed at reaching out to the 10% tribal population of the State and checkmating the surging BJP which has over the last one year gone all out to woo the Scheduled Tribes across India. Its strong pro-tribal posturing has already helped BJP sweep Gujarat’s tribal belt, which has traditionally supported the Congress. With as many as 13 elections scheduled in the next year and a half leading to Lok Sabha polls, the latest move by KCR is also aimed at helping his cause in others States as he seeks a national footprint through the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). Though dubbed a politically-laced move, it projects KCR as an environment-friendly leader too at the same time. And given its overall political implications, the move hasn’t been opposed by any party so far.
Government Assertion
Tribal farmers, traditionally cultivating for decades, will not be affected by this move. Non-tribal farmers can apply to the State government to allocate them land outside the forests. Those shifted out of the forests will be given land ownership certificates, power supply facility, water, and Rythu Bandhu benefits (welfare program to support farmer’s investment for two crops a year by Telangana government), and farmer insurance schemes.
