Tribal families get pattas for 3.12 lakh acres of forest land in AP

Amaravati, Oct 2 (PTI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday launched the distribution of Recognition of Forest Rights (RoFR) pattas (deeds) to tribal families.

Amaravati, Oct 2 (PTI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday launched the distribution of Recognition of Forest Rights (RoFR) pattas (deeds) to tribal families. By this launch, about 1.5 lakh tribal families in 35 Scheduled areas of the state would get rights over 3.12 lakh acres of forest land.

The Chief Minister, launching the scheme through a virtual conference from his camp office here, said the beneficiaries would also be given a financial aid of Rs 11,500 under the Rythu Bharosa, a freebie scheme for farmers. To ensure the real beneficiaries got the land rights under RoFR, a database was being created with photographs and clear demarcation of the land with marking stones.

The details would be uploaded on the webland portal of the state government, he said. The RoFR distribution would continue for a month in all tribal areas.

"This will bring a new light in the lives of the tribals who constitute about six per cent of the population," Jagan said and recalled that his late father Y S Rajasekhara Reddy first launched such a scheme in 2008 as the then Chief Minister of united Andhra Pradesh. "We now got an opportunity to take the scheme forward with the main objective of turning the tribals into farmers and support them by all means," the Chief Minister said.

This was one of the promises YSR Congress made ahead of the 2019 elections, Jagan said. Deputy Chief Ministers P Pushpa Srivani (Tribal Welfare), A K K Srinivas (Health), Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests N Prateep Kumar and other senior officials took part in the event.

Later, the Chief Minister laid the foundation stone for the Paderu Medical College in the tribal Araku Lok Sabha constituency in Visakhapatnam. In this virtual event, the Chief Minister laid the foundation stone also for building five new multi-specialty hospitals at Seetampeta (Srikakulam district), Parvathipuram (Vizianagaram), Dornala (Prakasam), Buttaigudem (West Godavari) and Rampachodavaram (East Godavari), all tribal areas.

He also laid the foundation for a Tribal Engineering College at Kurupam. "The tribal areas lacked proper healthcare facilities so far but we are now establishing five multi-specialty hospitals in the Integrated Tribal Development Agencies that will cater to even the remote areas and be a boon to the inhabitants,' Jagan said.

Special Chief Secretaries Satish Chandra (Higher Education) and K S Jawahar Reddy (Health) displayed the models of the proposed engineering college, medical college and the multi-specialty hospital campuses..