Yellapur: Karnataka Rajya Annadata Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene will jointly stage a protest on March 23 at Yellapur, condemning the delay in sanctioning the land rights to forest encroachers in the taluk, said Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene district unit president Manjunath Bhat.

Addressing the  association members, he said, most of the applications submitted by farmers demanding forest land rights have been rejected with the negligency of officials concerned.

When asked to the officials in this regard, it has come to know that applications submitted by many committees were being kept without verifying, which shows officials negligence towards farmers, he charged.

To call the attention of higher officials and the government, a protest rally will be held on March 23 and a memorandum will be submitted to the State government, urging to provide land rights at the earliest, he added.