Grant of rights to Assigned Lands beneficiaries historical: Dharmana

VIJAYAWADA: Revenue minister Dharmana Prasada Rao has said Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy's determination is to introduce reforms to ensure there is no corruption in government functioning. “He initiated steps to help the public and gave full rights to assigned land owners for the first time in history.”

“This government created a new record in land reforms by conducting resurvey and giving full rights to holders of assigned lands. Now other states are following the AP model in this regard.”

Prasada said the AP Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act, 1977 is a protective legislation and it prohibits the transfer of lands assigned to landless poor persons for the purpose of cultivation and provides for restoration of such transferred lands to the original assignee and also for punishment to those acquiring such lands.

The condition of non-alienability of assigned lands impacted the poorest of the poor by preventing them from making use of the same for emergent family needs, he said.

The revenue minister said proposals were received for the grant of transfer rights to the assignees of the assigned lands after a lapse of a certain period from the date of assignment. “Our government constituted a committee under the chairmanship revenue minister to examine the issue of the right to sell the assigned lands for the welfare and financial ease of the assignees.”

“The committee, after examining the relevant revenue laws enforced in the neighbouring states and the ground situation in the state, recommended inter alia that the original assignee or his/her legal heir may be permitted to alienate the assigned land after a period of 20 years from the date of assignment as per the procedure prescribed and without reference to the government.

In case, the adjoining land is earmarked for any purpose other than agricultural use in the master plan, the assignee shall be paid on par with the current basic value of the land by the purchaser of such assigned land.”

Prasada Rao said that the assignees are also not entitled to claim compensation on par with land owners where negotiated awards were passed for acquired lands due to the exigency of the requirement of the land and also the public interest involved in securing the completion of the project.

He pointed out that the assignees of the lands acquired for the projects long back are claiming compensation on par with the land owners who had agreed to part compensation awarded by the courts.

The government has accepted the above recommendations of the committee and decided to amend the above act suitably, he said.

The minister said that as the legislature was not in session then, having been prorogued, it was decided to give effect to the decision immediately. Hence, the promulgation of the AP assigned lands (prohibition of transfers) (amendment) ordinance, 2023 (AP ordinance 9 of 2023) by the governor on July 27, 2023.

He stated that now, with the passing of this bill, the assigned landowners would get full rights on their lands if they have completed 20 years.