While giant companies are given a red carpet welcome and tax rebates in Dakshina Kannada district, daily wage earners and beedi rollers find it difficult to buy even one cent land due to skyrocketing costs of land, said DYFI district committee member Muneer Katipalla.
Speaking at a convention organised by DYFI city unit to demand houses for the poor at NGO Hall on Thursday, he said that the development in the city is lopsided. Though Mangalore is developing with the implementation of SEZ and arrival of companies like Infosys and Wipro, the poor are forced to leave the district. For the implementation of SEZ alone, thousands of acres of land will be acquired. But on the other hand, the makeshift tents of the poor at Pachchanady and Shakthinagar are bulldozed. Despite frequent requests to provide houses for the homeless, the MCC commissioner has not responded to the problem, saying that the Nagara Ashraya Samiti has not been constituted yet. The officials concerned say that mostly government land and barren land will be utilised for SEZ, and only when required private land will be acquired. But when it comes to providing government land for land the weaker sections, they are denied the same, he complained.
The rise of land costs is due to real estate developers and politicians and the police are hand-in-glove with land grabbers, he accused. The conference is a symbolic beginning of the protest demanding houses. Applications for houses will be submitted to the DC and if there is no response for a month, protest will be intensified, he warned.
Corporator Jayanthi Shetty assured that she will raise her voice on behalf of the poor people in all 60 wards under the corporation. The houses constructed at Dharmanagara in Ullal spending lakhs of rupees which is lying vacant since 20 years must be distributed among beedi workers, she demanded.
Beedi workers’ association taluk committee leader Bharati Bolar called upon the beedi workers and daily wage earners to put up a united demand for allotting houses.
Applications requesting land for houses were collected from over 50 participants on the occasion and handed over to the DC.
DYFI district committee secretary Dayanand Shetty and DYFI city unit president Shashidhar were present.
