Mon Jul 14 14:13:37 UTC 2025: Here’s a summary and a news article based on the provided text:
**Summary:**
The Communist Party of India (CPI) is advocating for land ownership rights (pattas) for farmers and tribal communities in the hill areas of Erode district, India, who have been cultivating government-owned “poramboke” lands for decades without legal titles. They argue that a 1989 government order (G.O. No. 1168), implemented to prevent landslides in the Nilgiris district, is unjustly being applied to Erode, denying these communities access to crucial benefits like crop loans, compensation, electricity, and welfare schemes. The CPI highlights that Erode’s terrain is different, with cultivation on flatlands and no history of landslides. They are demanding the government exclude Erode from the G.O., issue pattas, and provide housing plots to homeless residents in the hill regions.
**News Article:**
**CPI Demands Land Rights for Erode Hill Farmers, Cites Unjust Application of Decades-Old Order**
**ERODE, INDIA – July 14, 2025** – The Communist Party of India (CPI) is mounting pressure on the State Government to grant land ownership rights (pattas) to farmers and tribal communities who have long cultivated “poramboke” lands in the hill regions of Erode district. The party argues that a 1989 government order, originally intended to prevent landslides in the Nilgiris, is unfairly depriving these communities of essential benefits and rights.
The demand was a central point in resolutions passed during the recent CPI North Erode District Conference in Sathyamangalam. The CPI asserts that residents in Thalavadi, Kadambur, and Bargur have been farming on government-owned land, often just one or two acres, for generations without formal titles. This lack of documentation prevents them from accessing crop loans, compensation for wildlife-related crop losses, electricity connections, and various government welfare programs.
“The application of G.O. No. 1168, issued after landslides in the Nilgiris, is completely unjustified here in Erode,” stated a party spokesperson. “Our terrain is different; agriculture is on flatlands, and we have no history of landslides. This outdated order is causing continued hardship.”
The CPI further emphasizes that under the Forest Rights Act of 2006, pattas are being granted for cultivation on forest lands, creating an inconsistency with the denial of titles for revenue poramboke lands.
The party resolution also addressed the plight of homeless families in the Erode hills, who are unable to afford land or housing. While free house site pattas are offered in the plains, the 1989 ban prevents the same benefit from being extended to hill residents.
The CPI is urging the government to exclude Erode district from the scope of the 1989 G.O., issue pattas for cultivated poramboke lands, and provide free house site pattas to homeless residents. They are calling for swift action to resolve the long-standing grievances of the district’s hill farmers and tribal communities.
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