The Revenue Department has discontinued many of the ongoing activities. Any government is a continuation. There were many positive actions done by the previous government.
We had decided to form a list of landless people in Kerala. We found that there were 2,42,922 landless families in the state. We took steps to distribute 3 cents of land each to 88,346 people. We started the program in Kannur district and later followed it up in Kasaragod and Idukki districts. Everything has been sabotaged now.
The land identified by the United Democratic Front government has not been distributed yet. When we took action to retrieve government land from people who had possessed it for years and even built houses there, they had promised the government to buy land wherever the government wanted. Such land is still with the government. No action has been taken to redistribute it.
The previous UDF government had distributed the most number of title deeds since the formation of Kerala. The UDF government had distributed more than 1,80,000 title deeds. Indeed there had been some flaws in the process but they could have been rectified.
A new government cannot deny the poor their rights. The LDF government has completed a year, doing nothing but to blame the previous government. Does the LDF government have any achievements to list out?
The UDF government had taken measures to issue 24 types of certificates online. More than 2 crore certificates had been distributes. No one knows what the situation is now. This government keeps on blaming the UDF government to cover up its mistakes.
Regarding land encroachments, there was no rampant encroachment during the tenure of the LDF government. The government had not taken a stand to help encroachment. There had been encroachments since this government came to power. The CPM and the CPI are fighting over clearing the encroachment. They even threaten to chop the limbs of officers who dare to inspect the landholdings. Nothing like that had happened during our times.
When I was the revenue minister CPM MLA S. Rajendran had approached me with a request for land. I refused because the officers presented a negative report. The UDF government had filed cases against CPM leaders accused of encroachment, including M.M. Mani's brother Lambodaran and Alwin.
This government is accusing the UDF government of helping the encroachers because they want to cover up their mistakes.
(As told to Prem Udayabhanu & Ullas Ilankath)