Every rupee must reach land-losing farmers promptly: Uttam

Metro India News | Hyderabad 

Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday launched a war-footing drive to remove land acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) bottlenecks holding up key irrigation projects across Telangana, directing District Collectors to ensure that compensation already sanctioned or released reaches farmers and displaced families within one or two days wherever documentation is complete.

Holding an emergency video conference with District Collectors, Chief Engineers and senior officials, the Minister said Chief Minister. Revanth Reddy was firm on addressing issues  coming in the way of  land acquisition, R&R, forest payments and other related requirements to speed up the implementation of the irrigation projects and accordingly he sanctioned Rs 5000 crore for the purpose. Uttam Kumar Reddy made it clear that the funds sanctioned must reach the displaced farmers.

Crediting amounts to PD accounts of Collectors will not serve the purpose, he said, directing officials to eliminate every avoidable administrative gap between sanction and final payment. The State government has so far released Rs 2,782 crore , while about  RS 566 crore had actually reached beneficiaries. Around Rs 989 crore was at various stages of disbursement, while another Rs 199 crore was available with districts where payment processes were yet to commence. This meant that nearly  Rs 1,200 crore could be pushed towards beneficiaries immediately or with minimal procedural action.

The Minister directed the Collectors and irrigation officials to treat the payments as an urgent priority. Another Rs 455 crore related to cleared tokens awaiting further processing. Uttam Kumar Reddy said there should be daily monitoring of the gap between funds released and payments actually credited to beneficiaries. He told Collectors not to wait for money to reach their PD accounts before completing land acquisition formalities.  Acquisition proceedings, consent awards and token generation should be completed in advance, he said.

In Jagtial district, he directed officials to distribute the funds already credited for land acquisition within one or two days.  He rejected one-week timeline sought by the officials. He said there was no justification for holding back compensation once funds and beneficiary details were available. In Siddipet district, officials were directed to proceed with consent awards concerning about 180 acres required for the Mallanna Sagar feeder canal and other works without waiting for the entire financial process to conclude.

Land acquisition for the Munneru-Paleru Link Canal in Mahabubabad district also figured prominently in the review. Officials were asked to expedite consent awards and revised compensation estimates following negotiations with farmers so that the project was not delayed by unresolved acquisition issues. District Collectors were instructed to convene joint meetings of revenue, irrigation and forest officials and immediately furnish whatever information was required. Forest-related issues concerning the Dindi Balancing Reservoir and other irrigation schemes were specifically reviewed.