Hyderabad: Telangana deputy chief minister Bhatti Vikramarka has announced that the state government will be responsible for installing solar power systems on podu lands across the state wherever there is no electricity supply. He said that the tribals could now operate borewells on podu lands using the power.
During an interactive session with those who benefited through the state government’s ‘Prajavani’ grievance redressal mechanism held at Jyotiba Phule Praja Bhavan on Tuesday, December 10, Bhatti said that orders will be issued to the tribal welfare department in a couple of days so that solar power systems could be installed in all those areas.
Among the beneficiaries who spoke at the session was Erma Punnam, an Adivasi from Kotapalli mandal in Mancherial district, who said that Prajavani helped 93 Adivasis from 18 villages in the district receive Recognition of Forest Rights (RoFR) pattas for their podu lands within 45 days after they had submitted a petition at Prajavani.
The issue was that though the RoFR pattas were printed, the district administration had withheld their pattas without issuing them to the Adivasis.
He said that during the BRS government, false cases were foisted against him and eight others for asking the officials to resolve their podu lands issue. He alleged that agricultural implements were seized by forest officials when they tried to cultivate their lands.
“We were also illegally arrested and lodged in jail after being accused of attacking the district collector when we went to represent our issue to him. We are still facing those cases,” Punnam said. He also credited the Adivasi movement for reclaiming their podu lands at Koya Poshaguda tribal hamlet in Dandepalli mandal, Mancherial district, in July 2022.
The village, along with many others in the mandal now identified as areas where podu cultivation was taking place, marks a significant change.
Adivasis need borewells, electricity, and bank loans, as they have no other financial source for various inputs required for farming.
After listening to Erma Punnam, the deputy chief minister asked if they could farm if the state government took responsibility for installing solar power systems to pump water from borewells, to which the former replied affirmatively.
Bhatti Vikramarka assured them that the state government would provide everything necessary to support their farming activities on podu lands.
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