Hyderabad: Telangana Revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy announced on Friday, August 2, in the Assembly that the state government plans to introduce a new law focused on land registration and ownership.
This legislation aims to address the deficiencies of the Dharani portal, which was established by the previous BRS administration, he added.
Public feedback
The proposed draft bill, titled the Telangana Record of Rights Bill, 2024, will be open for public feedback from August 2 to August 23, during which suggestions from citizens and experts will be collected.
Minister Srinivas Reddy highlighted that the Dharani portal has caused significant distress for farmers and legitimate landowners, preventing them from selling their land due to inherent flaws in the system.
He explained that the government has thoroughly examined existing land rules from previous regulations and from 18 other states to inform the new draft law.
Reddy noted that if there were any ongoing court cases related to a specific survey number, the entire survey number was marked as ‘prohibited’ on the Dharani portal.
This resulted in 18,000 acres being categorized as prohibited, including areas designated as forest land and government land.
Pilot projects conducted: Minister
The Telangana government conducted pilot projects in the Yacharam mandal of Ranga Reddy district and the Nagarjunsagar assembly constituency to streamline the land registration system.
Officials have been asked to submit reports within 10-15 days on the progress of these projects.
Minister Srinivas Reddy stated that when the Congress government took over, there were 2.5 lakh pending applications related to land issues.
So far, 1.19 lakh of these applications have been cleared, and the remaining will also be addressed soon. He emphasized that the new system will provide complete transparency, unlike the previous practice of rejecting applications without providing reasons.
The minister added that the intent behind the proposed “Telangana Record of Rights Bill, 2024” is to offer relief and a more streamlined process for landowners.
The public consultation period, which runs from August 2 to 23, aims to gather feedback from citizens and experts to ensure that the final implementation of the law better serves the interests of the people.
