Non-tribals grab 20,000 tribal acres in TG
In a troubling development that highlights systemic failures in land governance, nearly 20,000 acres of land in Telangana's designated tribal agency areas have shifted into non-tribal hands, despite constitutional protections designed to safeguard tribal land. This alarming trend reveals significant gaps in the enforcement of the Land Transfer Regulation (LTR) Act, which was intended to prevent the alienation of tribal land and shield vulnerable communities from exploitation. Official documents from the tribal welfare department indicate that 714 cases of alleged LTR violations—covering approximately 4,700 acres—are currently pending review at various judicial levels, including the Telangana High Court and the Supreme Court. However, observers warn that these figures likely represent only a fraction of the true scale of land transactions occurring within the state’s four Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) regions.
Introduced in 1970, the LTR Act—commonly referred to as the 1/70 Act—prohibits land transfers from tribals to non-tribals and between non-tribals in agency areas. Originally enacted to protect tribal communities from land dispossession and to uphold their rights, the law's effectiveness has been undermined by informal land transactions and a lack of rigorous oversight. Data reveals that the ITDA Bhadrachalam region is at the forefront of this issue, accounting for 382 pending cases involving 2,770 acres. Other regions, including ITDA Eturnagaram, Utnoor, and Nagarkurnool, report similar patterns of land dispossession, indicating a pervasive crisis that transcends individual districts.
Legal experts assert that a substantial portion of land transactions occur outside formal channels, complicating efforts to monitor and enforce the LTR Act. Informal agreements, often executed on plain paper, leave tribal families in precarious positions where ownership is difficult to establish in the face of legal challenges. Economic pressures—stemming from financial hardship or personal emergencies—often coerce tribal individuals into selling their land, while non-tribal buyers are attracted by the potential for lucrative investments. The existing regulations do permit certain land transfers amongst tribals and specific verifiable transactions involving non-tribals, yet the prevailing conditions have enabled widespread illegal transfers that threaten the very fabric of tribal land rights.
Land rights advocate M. Suneel Kumar has identified the historical context of these violations, citing a staggering 76,000 acres linked to LTR infringements in cases pending across the erstwhile unified Andhra Pradesh from 1959 to 2004, with a striking 90% of those cases dismissed due to proving challenges. The 2006 Koneru Ranga Rao Commission report further revealed that an estimated 51% of tribal lands were already under the control of non-tribals. In light of these developments, local activists, including Adivasi Lawyers Association Telangana state committee leader Sunnam Ramesh, have called for a comprehensive investigation into ongoing illegal transactions, alleging that complicity from officials and political figures exacerbates the erosion of tribal land rights.
