In what could trigger the process of striking at the root of discontent on which Naxal movement thrives in Andhra Pradesh, a tribal woman of Adilabad district, Kumra Manku Bai, has wrested back her late father’s land from non-tribal control. The legal battle was started by her father about three-and-a-half decades ago. But he could not get the land back in his lifetime.

In this Naxal belt, 48 per cent of the land in scheduled areas for tribals is in the possession of non-tribal people, and her victory could pave the way for thousands of tribals, alienated from their land over the last five decades, in winning it back.

In 1969, leasing his 18 acres of land for three years to a non-tribal moneylender, Manku Bai’s father Todsam Gangu had borrowed Rs 1,400. When he tried to reclaim it after the lease expired, Gangu was beaten up and criminal cases were booked against him. Till his death, Gangu had been approaching various forums, from the Deputy Collector to the High Court, but relief eluded him despite a powerful state law that prohibits transfer of scheduled area land to anyone but scheduled tribes.

Since the inception of the Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Areas Land Transfer Regulations (APSALTR) in 1959, over 72,000 cases of land alienation have been detected involving 3,21,685 acres. And this is estimated to represent only half the actual such cases in the state. Of the 70,000 odd cases disposed of, tribals won only 42 per cent.

In spite of a stringent law to protect tribal rights, the reasons for Manku Bai and other tribals having to struggle hard to reclaim their lands are simple. The implementing and adjudicating authorities under the APSALTR seem to be not very clear on the procedures of the law. Little access to land records and legal support makes it difficult for the tribals in pursuing the cases. Worst of all, in almost all cases, the affected tribals are not issued notices or made party, and proceedings become a matter between the non-tribals and the officers concerned.

In January 2005, when Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh was visiting a school in Adilabad along with Vijay Kumar, CEO of the state-run Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP), Manku Bai approached them with her case. Ramesh said, ‘‘I was interacting with villagers about a multi-pronged Giri Pragathi programme I initiated with the SERP using my MPLADS funds, to improve social and economic infrastructure in tribal, particularly Naxalite-affected, areas. We decided to take up Manku Bai’s problem as a test case for Giri Nyayam, the legal aid component of Giri Pragathi.’’ A young lawyer from NALSAR University, Suneel Reddy, pursued the case, digging up land records and filing affidavits in the High Court and complaints and petitions with the appropriate authorities. Spending just 10 full days over six months, Reddy won the land back for Manku Bai.

With success in the test case, Ramesh is now working with the SERP to create a ‘‘paralegal army of law students and graduates’’ to review and fight all cases of land alienation. A physical inventory of lands in Utnoor and Eturunagaram is complete. Over 3,500 land transfer cases have been scrutinised. While graduates from the NALSAR Law University are acting as coordinators, a lawyers’ panel has been constituted to represent tribals in court.

Also on the radar are 255 cases involving over 2,000 acres of land, pending before the High Court. In most cases, the tribals have not been made a party and the tribal welfare authorities have filed counter-affidavits in only 86 cases. By investing just over Rs 500,000 or Rs 239 per acre on legal assistance, it is hoped that these cases can be swung in tribals’ favour.

As land records and other documents are being tied together for resolving these cases, interestingly, even the Commissioner (Tribal Welfare) has instructed his officers to seek the paralegals’ help in preparing counter affidavits.