Recently, the family submitted another petition to District Collector S Chandrashekhar. The collector has promised to address his complaint.
For 16 years, Yashoda Narayanan and her family, living on a piece of land inside Aralam Farm in Kannur district, have been fighting for the title (patta) of that land.
All the arguments and pleas of this family of Karimbala tribal community are not being heard by anyone.
Yashoda Narayanan, along with her ailing husband and three daughters, settled on plot number 513 of Aralam Farm during the tribal movement in 2006. During the Pattaya Fair in 2013, he was issued a Patta for Plot No. 566. But this plot was already allotted to a tribal family of Paniya community.
The issue was raised with the authorities and they asked the Paniya family to share the land. But he refused to give the land for which he had got the lease.
It was the beginning of a long and difficult journey for Yashoda’s family. He knocked on many doors and petitioned for release of Patta for another piece of land.
Yashoda told The Hindu that after the authorities asked him to choose some other land, he sought a lease for plot 507. After years of delay, the authorities refused to release the lease saying the land was earmarked for public purposes.
“We petitioned the authorities for grant of lease for the land where we have been living for so long. Then we came to know that Patta had already been issued for that land to another tribal family. However, they never came to claim the land,” Yashoda said.
In 2018, a joint inspection was conducted by the Tribal Welfare Department and the Revenue Department. Yashoda claims that the revenue officials wrote a letter to the Tribal Welfare Department, agreeing to change the lease in favor of the family. They allege that the Tribal Welfare Department officials have not yet taken any action on this.
Yashoda’s husband cannot go to work due to illness. All three of his daughters have now reached the marriageable age.
Recently, the family submitted another petition to District Collector S Chandrashekhar. The collector has promised to address his complaint.
State President of Adivasi Dalit Muneta Samiti, Sriraman Koyon, says that this is not the only such case. When tribal families took part in the movement and took possession of the land, they were not given pattas. As a result, they were unable to build houses despite any benefits offered by the state and central governments and the growing threat of elephants in the field.
According to The Hindu, Scheduled Tribe Development Project Officer Jacqueline Shiny Fernandes says that she has not yet received the petition given to the collector. As soon as they get the petition, the matter will be discussed with the site manager and a study will be done to understand the reasons behind not issuing the lease.