Landless poor peasants in Godavari region, under the leadership of CPI (ML) Red Star and AIKKS initiated land struggle in Godavari region in Andhra Pradesh. As a part of it, the struggling peasants handed over a memorandum to revenue divisional officer at Jungareddy Gudem on 17th April 2024. The memorandum demanded immediate release of surplus land to the landless poor peasants. CPI (ML) Red Star district secretary for united West Godavari Comrade J. Venkateswara Rao and AIKKS AP state president Com D Ranganatham led the struggle.
Copy of the memorandum:
To
The Honorable Revenue Divisional Officer and Divisional Magistrate, Jangareddygudem,
Respected Sir,
This is a humble petition submitted jointly by Jonnakuti Venkateswara Rao and other landless poor Dalits from Pangidigudem village, Angareddygudem Mandal, Eluru District.
Subject: Regarding the land ceiling lands of Pangidigudem village under the Land Reforms Act:
In 1975, under the Land Reforms Act, the landowner (Late) Chinnam Nagabhushanam, son of Ketu Rajamannar of R.S.R., submitted a declaration stating he owned around 350 acres of land. The then Land Reforms Tribunal (LRT), Kovvur, reviewed the declaration and determined that approximately 200 acres should be considered surplus land and distributed to the poor. Accordingly, the Court in LCC No. 2379KV975 ruled that the surplus land should be allocated to the needy.
The landowner appealed the decision in LRAJ, where it was registered as Appeal No. 198/1978. After review, about 20 acres of the 200 acres were exempted as drought-prone land by the LRAT on 17.09.1977. Still dissatisfied, the landowner filed a Civil Revision Petition in the then-unified Andhra Pradesh High Court under Petition No. 584/1978. The Court upheld the LRAT’s ruling.
Unhappy with that as well, the landowner filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court, which was registered as Petition No. 1073. In 1983, the Supreme Court ruled that the LRAT Eluru’s decision must be implemented.
However, corrupt revenue officials colluded with the landowners and defied the Supreme Court’s ruling by not distributing the land to the poor. Instead, they supported landowners in making sales and purchases, which amounted to contempt of court. From 1983 to 2004, the ceiling lands were not distributed.
In 2004, the villagers, upon learning this, protested demanding distribution of the ceiling land. The revenue officials, panicking, colluded again with the landowners, destroyed the original declaration submitted by Chinnam Nagabhushanam, and presented a new declaration on 11.09.2005 using some deceased or disqualified heirs. Only 41 acres were shown as surplus land in the new declaration, and the LIRT Angareddygudem gave a false judgment based on it.
Once again, the villagers protested demanding distribution of land per the Supreme Court verdict. Upon this, it was discovered that 57.48 cents of land in RS No. 150 and other survey numbers were not shown in the 2005 declaration. Consequently, under MC No. 420058, Section 145 was imposed on 04.07.2005, and the authorities promised to distribute the land to the poor — a promise still unfulfilled.
On behalf of the villagers, Jonakuti Venkateswara Rao, son of (Late) Gangaraju, SC (Mala), filed a complaint with the Honorable Lokayukta under Case No. C.No. 858/2018/91, which is under investigation. The Lokayukta ordered the Tahsildar, RDO of Angareddygudem, and District Collector to submit a report on the irregularities and illegal land sales in the ceiling lands of Pangidigudem, contempt of Supreme Court orders, and the 2005 declaration issued unlawfully by URT Angareddygudem.
However, the officials submitted a vague report without specifying what legal actions were taken and kept requesting adjournments, deceiving both the Court and the public, thereby causing loss to both the Government and the people while favoring landowners.
Meanwhile, some individuals from Pangidigudem — Datla Venkata Satya Tirupati Raju (Nani Babu) and Koppula Ravichandra Reddy — with political and financial influence, are pressuring the authorities to issue Pattadar Passbooks (title deeds) illegally, causing distress to the officials.
Simultaneously, upper-caste landlords filed Writ Petition No. 12445/2023 in the High Court, which was dismissed. The Court directed the Eluru District Collector to distribute ceiling lands to the poor per the orders of the Land Reforms Tribunal, Kovvur, and LRAT Eluru, in line with the Supreme Court verdict.
Therefore, we humbly request that you:
Review our petition.
Take legal action against the officials who, in 2005, illegally aided landowners and violated the Supreme Court ruling by only declaring 47 acres as surplus land, suppressing the original declaration by Chinnam Nagabhushanam.
As the Divisional Magistrate, conduct a field-level investigation to protect the ceiling lands and distribute them to the truly landless Dalit poor as per the 1983 Supreme Court judgment.
Ensure no Pattadar Passbooks are issued to landowners on ceiling lands in RS. No. 222, 215/1.
Investigate various survey numbers (150, 74, 218, 132, 133, 120/1, 120/2, 11, 1/5, 215, 217, 222, 215/1, 215/3, 215/45) under Section 145 and implement the 1983 Supreme Court order.
Place: Pangidigudem
Date: 17-04-2025
Copy to:
District Collector, Eluru District
Revenue Principal Secretary, Andhra Pradesh, Amaravati
Chief Commissioner of Land Administration (CCLA), Andhra Pradesh
Yours faithfully,
On behalf of the village people
(Jonakuti Venkateswara Rao)
Aadhaar No. 4451310764868
