By IANS
Hyderabad : The Andhra Pradesh government Saturday launched the fourth phase of distribution of government land among the landless poor.
The government plans to distribute 166,000 acres of land free of cost to the landless poor all over the state during the next one week.
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy launched the fourth phase in the temple town of Tirupati.
Addressing a public meeting on the occasion, he said his government was committed to the economic empowerment of weaker sections of society through distribution of land.
YSR, as the chief minister is popularly known, said the landless poor could now enjoy the status of proud landowners and farmers and realise their dreams.
He said the government has already distributed 437,000 acres in three phases. He pointed out that the land was also being developed at a cost of Rs.5 billion.
Ministers and legislators also distributed land among poor in different parts of the state.
The majority of the beneficiary families under the programme is from scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward classes. The authorities are issuing ‘pattas’ or titles of land to women in the families.
The Congress government had launched the programme in 2005. It stepped up the distribution last year to counter the ‘bhuporatam’ or land struggle by the communist parties.
The leaders and workers of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and their supporters were encroaching on government lands at various places across the state for distribution among the poor. The struggle had led to violence at several places.