Tamil Nadu: 12 years on, family with HIV awaits land deed

CHENNAI: In 2013, a governance decision gave hope to a family of four in Namakkal district. The family was chosen to receive a land patta under the initiative of then IAS officer U Sagayam.

Fast forward to 12 years, the couple (both living with HIV), is still chasing government offices for a patta that never came.

Both are daily wage workers with two children. Their elder daughter is pursuing a college degree, and their son is in Class 11. The family has been living in Vasanthapuram in Namakkal taluk, on a piece of land they claim was allotted to them by Sagayam, then the Collector of Namakkal. They also claim to be among 20 beneficiaries who approached him for help citing their health condition and economic struggles.

“They gave us the land and asked us to build a house. We built a hut and have been living here since,” she said. “We’ve spent years shuttling between government offices trying to get the land deed.”

“I’ve been working in a shop for the last three years. Before that, I took up whatever daily wage jobs I could find. Many times, I’ve had to give up a day’s wage just to follow up on this. Years have passed, but nothing has changed,” she lamented.

Her husband, also suffering from tuberculosis, is no longer able to work as before. “We have electricity and water connections. We pay our bills. But we still don’t have ownership of the land that the government itself gave us,” she said.

The family’s request for a patta has been stalled since 2013, with files moving between the tahsildar’s office, the Revenue Divisional Office (RDO), and the District Collectorate. A local activist told DT Next, “Many downtrodden families received land under Sagayam’s special intervention. However, some families didn’t make the cut due to administrative lethargy.”

Commenting on this, Vasanthapuram VAO Malarvizhi said: “Such cases of informal land allocation do happen. In this case, the delay was because the land was originally classified as barren rocky land (tharisu paarai).”

The last hurdle came in 2023, when officials cited that the land might be part of a barren rocky stretch that could be reserved for quarrying in the future. But the State’s Geology and Mining Department later cleared the land, stating that it contained no valuable minerals and could be classified as Grama Natham land – eligible for the residential deed.

The department also cited similar cases in nearby areas where pattas were granted. Yet, two years on, the family continues to wait, with their petition lying idle at the Collectorate.

“It’s waiting to be cleared by the District Revenue Department,” said Malarvizhi. “The patta will be issued soon.”

DT Next could not reach the District Revenue Officer or the Revenue Divisional Officer despite multiple attempts.

The State government under Chief Minister Stalin recently approved guidelines for a special regularisation scheme, a one-time relaxation of the ban on issuing house site pattas for residential encroachments on unobjectionable poramboke land. The scheme is expected to benefit over 86,000 families across Tamil Nadu and will be in effect until December 31 this year.

The family has pinned their hopes on that deadline. They want the land in which their family has already built a life upon.