25 Gothikoya Families Evicted in Telangana Despite Govt Assurances, Lands Seized by Forest Officials
Bhadradri-Kothagudem | April 21, 2025: In a stark violation of repeated assurances by Congress leaders, at least 25 Gothikoya Adivasi families in Ramanakkapeta hamlet, Aswaraopeta mandal, have been forcefully dispossessed of their podu lands by forest department officials.
Despite a survey being initiated by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) to assess the status of Internally Displaced People (IDPs), forest officials have laid trenches across 180 acres of farmland, blocking adivasis from accessing their traditional lands.
Residents allege that:
- Standing crops were destroyed
- Huts were burned
- Plantations were seized
- At least 8 families were rendered completely landless
“This isn’t the first time. But now it feels like we’ve been permanently displaced,” said Uike Suresh, a local resident.
The Gothikoyas, originally from Sukma, Chhattisgarh, fled their villages in 2005 during the Salwa Judum conflict, seeking refuge in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Since then, they’ve remained on the fringes—without land pattas, caste certificates, or access to welfare schemes.
Successive governments—including the previous BRS regime and now the Congress government—have failed to regularize their land rights or end the targeted evictions by forest officials.
On March 11, the community met NCST member Jathothu Hussain to raise their concerns, but no action has followed. The ongoing displacement now threatens their livelihood, education, and survival.
“We hoped the new government would bring dignity. Instead, we are once again at the mercy of forest trenches,” said one displaced Gothikoya elder.
