Of continued apathy of leaders
Post the merger, the government didn't take steps to uplift education or stop exploitation in agriculture sector.
Hyderabad: This article is in continuation to the last article focusing on the Jai Telangana Movement (1969-70), which is one of the important topics for the government recruitment examinations.
The most neglected sector in Telangana had been the education field during the Nizam period and that apathy continued even after merger. The Andhra Pradesh government did not take steps to uplift the higher education and training facilities in Telangana area. The contracts in the Public Works Department were given mainly to backward class people, Muslims and persons belonging to Scheduled Castes in the Hyderabad State.
After the merger of the two States, slowly these contractors were replaced by the Andhra contractors and also the new contracts were given to them. In fact, lands in Telangana were not supposed to be bought by outsiders without obtaining permission from the Telangana Regional Committee. However, the Andhra settlers purchased lands without obtaining permission from statutory bodies and became owners of thousands of acres of land.
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The new settlers had bought at throw away price the lands under cultivation in the catchment area of Nizamsagar dam, lands to be irrigated in future and the forest lands in Khammam, Warangal, Mahbubnagar and many other districts. In some places, they occupied fertile and waste lands by force without paying any amount. The people who lost their fields thus became landless peasants or migrated to urban areas as labourers.
Ultimately, Sections 47 to 50 in the Hyderabad Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1950, were totally abolished in the year 1968 paving way for large-scale migrations in the field of agriculture from Andhra area to Telangana. About 60 to 80 per cent of fertile land in the catchment area of River Godavari was transferred into the hands of Andhra migrants from the local farmers.
In the same way, 40 per cent of rich lands under the Nizam Sagar dam went into their possession. The fate of the lands in the catchment area of Kadem project, lands under the Nagarjuna Sagar project in Nalgonda district and the productive fields in Gadwal and Alampur areas under the RDS canal was the same.
The Andhra real estate barons applied all sorts of tricks and converted the agricultural lands situated in nearby districts and around Hyderabad into real estate projects. They became multimillionaires and the owners of those lands became chowkidars or security guards in their own lands.
Another important matter that the Gentlemen’s Agreement dealt with was the issue of finances. It was guaranteed that a small portion of revenue from Telangana region would be earmarked for the expenditure on the State Administration and the remaining amount would be spent for the developmental activities in Telangana districts. But, this principle was never followed.
To be continued…
Prof. Adapa Satyanarayana
Retired Professor
Department of History, Osmania University
Ph. 9573405551
