Two Years of Accomplishments
The innovative idea of land pooling for building an ultra-modern capital city for Andhra Pradesh has received admiring attention from across the country , riven by the contentious and volatile land acquisition issue .
The Bifurcated Andhra Pradesh was a state in search of a capital city . Given the sorry state of fiscal affairs , it was impossible for the state to acquire adequate land for the proposed capital . But it is in such difficult circumstances that true leaders come up with a win-win plan . The historic land pooling for the capital city of Amaravati from farmers , not surprisingly , has become the talking point across the country , where land acquisition has become a contentious and highly volatile issue . It is probably for the first time in the country ’ s history that nearly 33,000 acres of fertile land was voluntarily given away by small as well as rich farmers for a public cause . While land acquisition has become a contentious and long-drawn out affair across the country , Andhra Pradesh was faced with another dilemma : The government had no money to pay compensation to farmers under acquisition . “ Necessity is the mother of invention and we were for forced to think out of the box . Land pooling was our answer , and I can proudly say we have achieved the impossible by involving people in capital building ,” said a beaming Chief Minister . " Handing over our lands was not an easy thing . Our lives have been too tied with it to let go . But I was motivated by Chandrababu ’ s Land Pooling Scheme and his commitment to build an ultra modern capital for the state . I now know that I am part of history , of a new beginning ," said Bandla Paparao , an octogenarian of Ananthavaram , one of the villages falling under the capital region . The Capital Region Development Authority ( CRDA ) had notified 45 , 625 acres , out of which 37,624.15 acres is patta land . After the notification on January 2015 , Nelapadu was the first village from which the land pooling exercise was commenced . The villagers welcomed the CRDA officials with open arms and willingly gave their consent letters . The entire exercise of land pooling for the brand new capital was completed in 3 months . The unprecedented response from land owners left the observers surprised all the more because desperate attempts were made to instigate farmers against participating in the land pooling . What turned the tide was Chandrababu Naidu ’ s novel scheme in which land owners were made stake holders in the development of an urban agglomeration , and even his critics admitted the plan worked out well . “ We started the land pooling process in January last year , and within a short time , have managed to convince local land owners to take part in the development process . It was a smooth sail , as 33 , 811 acres were pooled within stipulated time ," CRDA special commissioner , N Srikanth said . “ It was not just the compensation alone but the Chief Minister ’ s impassioned call for becoming partners in progress that inspired us ,” said Maineni Girija of Dondapadu village . She not only gave away 4 acres of her land that falls under notified area , but also volunteered to give another 3 acres in neighbouring village Vaddamanu , which is out of notified boundaries . " Hers is a case in example that farmers in the region were really fired by the idea of building a modern capital on their own soil ," Tenali Sravan Kumar , local MLA representing Tadikonda constituency , told AP Bureau . However , the administration was careful in ensuring that the farmers of jareebu lands who harvested three crops a year did not feel their loss in comparison with dry-land farmers . The lands with irrigation facility spread across 10 river front villages got a better package . Rambabu , farmer from Thullur , says “ The package offered by the government is better than leasing out or holding the land for progeny . As a matter of fact , cost of our land appreciated more than 10 times after the announcement of capital here ,” he said . With farmers happy with their compensation package , land pooling has turned into the first achievement of the Chandrababu Naidu government in its effort to build a world-class capital . Many leading commentators suggested that Naidu model to nation on land acquisition . Well-known business journalist Swaminathan Anklesaria Aiyar referred to the stalled projects across the country due to issues with land acquisition , and commended the Chief Minister of AP for successfully converting ‘ a problem into a solution ’. When the leader is honest in his purpose , the farmer will not baulk from his contribution . This has been proved in the case of Amaravati land pooling . v JUNE 2016 ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE . ORG 13