Maharashtra Minister of State for Home, Ram Shinde has asserted that the state government will try to retain all its 14 'disputed' villages, sharing border with Telangana, which has laid claim on these areas.
"The matter is sub-judice and a petition on the dispute is pending with the Supreme Court. We will talk with the Union Home Minister in this regard and the state government will try to keep all the 14 villages in Maharashtra," he told reporters here yesterday after touring two affected villages Paramdoli and Marazoda.
All these 14 villages--located in Jiwati taluka of Chandrapur district (according to Maharashtra map)-- figure in the voters list of both the states and the people there enjoy dual identity, entitling them to take benefits of all the basic facilities including political status from both Telangana and Maharashtra.
These 14 hamlets fall under seven revenue villages of Maharashtra and Telangana and has a total population of around 3700.
Earlier Andhra Pradesh and now Telangana (after division) have claimed that these villages fall under their territory.
Interestingly, some villages have two local bodies and two sarpanchs, one belonging to Maharashtra and another representing Telangana.
The land record too is present in both the states. Every village has two schools one of Marathi medium and other imparting education in Telugu.
Yesterday, Shinde interacted with people in Paramdoli and Marazoda villages and heard their grievances following which he assured them that the state government will try to keep these villages in Maharashtra.
The dispute over these villages dates back to 40 years. In 1999, the Andhra Pradesh High Court declared these villages to be part of their state. In response, the Maharashtra government had moved the Supreme Court, where its appeal is still pending.
