TRICHY, July 30, 2013: A land owned by Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) has become a bone of contention after the department sent eviction notices to 37 people who have been staying there for more than four decades. However, the people sought the intervention of the district administration to allow them to stay there on lease considering as they are poor. Meanwhile, HR&CE insist they are following court orders on the issue festering for a decade.

Around 100 families from Muthamizh Nagar in Thalakudi, near Trichy, converged at the district collector's office on Monday to apprise the authorities about their plight. They have been ordered to leave the HR&CE-owned property within 15 days of receiving eviction notice from the department. The move came as a blow to the poor families, which have been staying on the 2.20-acre land for 42 years, as they are unable to find an alternative place at short notice.

P Lenin, the elected union councillor of Lalgudi union who led the people, said that the land belongs to Srirangam Sri Renganathar temple and Thalakkudi Ayyanar temple. Labourers, who started living on the land since 1958, paid rent for land till 1998. Therefater, the HR&CE stopped collecting rent from the families citing no reason. "We were ready to pay the rent though they stopped collecting it. Though, most of us sent the rent through money order to HR&CE, they refused to receive it," D Dhatchinamoorthy, a resident, said.

A case was filed by P Nagarajan, the trustee of Ayyanar temple, to evict the occupants, saying the land is encroached. "How it can be termed encroachment while we paid rent and got receipt for that," exclaimed Dhatchinamoorthy.

After HR&CE made its intention to clear the land of encroachment a decade back, in December 2004 the affected people had secured an interim stay on the eviction order after some of them moved the Madurai bench of Madras high court. However, the HR & CE has now revived its eviction plans and sent the eviction notice to 37 people on July 9, 2013 based on a 2004 HC order. "We are ready to pay the rent, so that we can stay there. We can't afford to find a new place to stay. Otherwise, we can't survive," said Dhatchinamoorthy.

Commenting on the issue, G Pugalendran, the joint commissioner of HR& CE (Trichy) said, they are following court orders: "They did not pay rent for the land. We sent the eviction notice based on the high court order dated December 9, 2004. We cannot receive rent because we will be accused of contempt of court."

Source: The Times of India, DT. July 30, 2013.