Petition about the Kerala Government's land dole to the 'landless'

Submitted before the Hon. High Court of Kerala

Petition about the Kerala Government's land dole to the 'landless'

Background

1

Kerala has a population of about 4 % of the country. Projected population for 1st March 2008 is 3, 42, 32,000. We have land of 1.18% of India, geographically. The quantum of land 38863 sq. kms or 9 603 00000 cents thus available cannot change.

Of this geographical area, 48% is mountainous or hilly. 12% is the coastal lowlands. The remaining 40% of midlands alone is suitable for human dwelling. That is to say, for 4% percent of the country's population, only about 0. 45% of its land is available for living and surviving.

2 

The pressure on land is our greatest weakness. Our earlier planners did not give this matter honest consideration. We should have planned for development without disturbing or destroying the highlands and lowlands. You meddle with mother Earth and you suffer – our planners ignored this old rule.

3 

Land belongs to all of us equally. We also have responsibility to it. Calculating on 960300000 cents and 34232000 humans, individual share comes to 28 cents each. Permissible human usage-share is 40% of that total. Thus, each of us has a birthright to only 11 cents of the land area in Kerala. If you allow a further deduction of 30% to man-made infrastructure like roads, public grounds and buildings, other public utilities etc, a Keralite can claim or own to himself only 7 cents or so.

4 

However, on October 3 this year, The Chief Minister announced that the Kerala government will provide free land to all the landless in the state before the end of its term. Speaking at the inauguration of land distribution fair at Kannur, he said 1,559 persons were given title deeds for 10 cents (4355.90 square feet) of land each.

The Website of the Kerala Revenue ministry says that the present LDF Government gave 60044 Pattas (title document) and Record of Right to landless poor, weaker sections of society and agricultural labourers. "Earnest and time bound efforts are under way to take over the remaining excess land within next one year. It is expected that at least 50,000 acres of land can be taken over and distributed to the landless poor during the tenure of this Government." Government lands are public property.  On an average, 50000 acres of land costs around Rs.1000 crores in Kerala.

5

In Kerala, we cannot get agriculture labourers. The minimum wages that we have to pay to any manual labourer is Rs. 250/- a day - for 6 hours of ‘work’. The carpenter gets Rs. 300/- to Rs. 500/- a day. Anyone that is prepared to work can survive without being impoverished poor in Kerala, though certain sections like postgraduate teachers in unaided private schools get only around Rs. 2500/- monthly. The assessment of ‘landless poverty’ needs to be done very carefully in Kerala.

Grievance

The Government has not considered the equal opportunity rights of Kerala citizens. If acres are doled away to the so called landless poor without considering the per capita availability of seven cents of land, where would the others that are not as aggressive as the squatters of grabs like Chengara, ever get any land at all from?

What is to happen to the landless among the middle classes of Kerala, who are unable to have houses of their own because of the inhuman cost of land in Kerala? Would they also have to squat and threaten suicide as in Chengara, to have at least 7 cents for a house each?

These questions have not been considered by the Kerala government.

Prayer

The Hon. Court may be pleased to instruct the Kerala government to take into account the per capita availability of and eligibility for land in Kerala, in land doles; and act equally to all citizens.

2. An aggressive section of the society may please not be allowed to benefit at the cost of a law-abiding but meek majority of the citizenry, who are also unable to possess land due to its high cost. Allotment of public land on which all citizens have equal rights, freely to anyone is not just or fair in the Kerala situation. The allotments are not done in a totally transparent manner.

3. The middle classes may also be considered for allotment of residential land at affordable cost. Otherwise, it would be a violation of their equality of rights.

Respectfully submitted as above by R. Sajan [S/o late Sri. G.R.Nair], aged 54, residing at Ramuvinte Veed, Desam, Aluva 683103

Duly signed at Desam on 24^th November 2008 and presented through Email.