By IANS
Kannur (Kerala) : Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan Saturday handed out title deeds to 1,717 tribal families in the Aralam farms here.
Handing out the title deeds, which will give one acre of land to each family, Achuthanandan said in three years, all tribals in the state would be given land.
“This year, my government is committed to build 10,000 homes for you in the state. We will also create facilities for ensuring power supply, health and education facilities here,” said Achuthanandan.
This is the second phase of giving title deeds to the tribals. In the first phase, 840 families had benefited.
The central government gave the 3,065-acre Aralam farm to the state government during the erstwhile United Democratic Front’s government (2001-06) on the condition that 50 percent of it be given to landless tribal families.
Since then the state government has been in the process of identifying the beneficiaries and 1,547 acres of the farmland have been set aside to be distributed to them.
According to official figures, the tribal population in the state is 364,000 with the hill district of Wayanad accounting for 37.36 percent of the total population followed by 10.89 percent in Palakkad district.