Members of one of the beneficiary families receiving possession certificate for their land from Deputy Commissioner Gangubai Mankar.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Three families belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, which lost land granted to them because of the actions of their forefathers, have now been restored possession of their land, thanks to the personal interest taken by Deputy Commissioner of Uttara Kannada Gangubai Mankar.
In a first, Ms. Mankar met the families before handing over the official orders reinstating the rights of three families over 20.44 acres of land in Sirsi and Mundgod taluks of the district on Wednesday.
These land granted to their forefathers under the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prohibition of Transfer of Certain Lands) Act 1978 had been sold in violation of the Act.
On Wednesday, the Deputy Commissioner visited Kuppagadde village in Banavasi Hobli of Sirsi taluk and handed over the order reinstating the rights of the family of Basavaraj Nagappa Bovivaddar over 7.11 acres of land.
Basavaraj Bovivaddar’s forefathers had sold the grant land in 1966 and the land, meanwhile, had changed hands thrice.
Ms. Mankar got the land surveyed on the spot before handing over the order to Basavaraj Bovivaddar.
She asked the Bovivaddar family to utilise the land for cultivation and not sell it at any cost. Thanking the Deputy Commissioner, Basavaraj Bovivaddar and his wife Anasuya assured her that they will take up paddy cultivation and develop a farm utilising the land.
In Mundgod taluk
Subsequently, the Deputy Commissioner visited Nandikatta and Hungund villages in Mundgod taluk where she handed over possession orders to Fakeerappa Kerappa Madar alias Harijan (3.17 acres) and Shivappa Rupalamapp Lamani (10.16 acres).
She was accompanied by tahsildars of the two taluks, Sridhar and Shankar Goudi, respectively, the director of land records, surveyors, police and revenue officials.