Kurnool: The Andhra Pradesh government is implementing tough measures to safeguard the lands owned by the endowments department in the district through computerising the records of all temple lands in the district.
The aim is to ensure accuracy and avoid tampering of records. These are now accessible online. Some 47,000 acres of 1,951 temples are being documented on computers using a 1A proforma.
There have been numerous cases in the combined district, where people initially donated lands to temples but later occupied them. The department had sought intervention of the Lokayukta in such matters.
Officials noted that there were problems in maintaining transparent and accurate records of temple lands. However, with the computerisation, there is less room for discrepancies.
Endowments department records and revenue records now provide detailed information, including survey numbers, land area and boundaries, all accessible online. There are more than 1,900 temples under the supervision of the endowments department in this district. Temples’ executive officers are tasked with uploading land data of 150 of these temples.
Further, department employees have been appointed at the mandal-level to computerise land details.
The government had enacted a law to protect temple lands from encroachment. Additional security measures are being taken through technical means include tracking of leased temple lands, determining the revenue generated, and identifying lands under Inam category.
Lands under the department have been included in proforma 1A and 1B. The current focus is on computerising all land online as per the 1A proforma.
“A total of 43,450 acres of land has been identified. After verification through Mee Intiki Mee Bhoomi, 47,000 acres of land was found to be recorded in the Resettlement Register (RSR). It was noticed that there is an increase of 3,549 acres. Teams, consisting of EOs and special officers, conduct field-level inspections of the lands at mandal levels to ensure accurate and reliable records,” an official said.
