Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has decided to brush aside the objections of the revenue department staff and go ahead with enacting a new legislation for the department and ensure that it will come into force this year.
The new Act aims to weed out corruption in the revenue department about which there have been many complaints. People have complained that they have difficulty in updating and transfer of ownership of their lands in revenue records, and also doing so for ration cards, pattadar passbooks and other services that the department should provide without demanding huge bribes.
Mr Rao proposed making all revenue related services online to avoid personal interaction between revenue officers and service seekers, which would effectively end the demand for bribes.
While announcing the new Revenue Act in April this year, the Chief Minister had declared that the government has decided to ensure distribution of conclusive title deeds to all bona fide land owners in the state, and suitable provisions for this will be incorporated in the new Act.
He also said that the columns of 'occupier' and 'enjoyer' would be removed in revenue records so that the rights of the title holders would not be affected even if they had leased out their lands.
The Revenue department has taken umbrage at Mr Rao announcing that he would be enacting the new law to make the administration corruption-free, particularly in land transactions. The Telangana Revenue Employees Services Association (Tresa) expressed its unhappiness at the Chief Minister terming the Revenue department as corrupt, and saying that a new Revenue Act was required to cleanse it.
Tresa disagrees with the proposal of the Chief Minister to give full responsibility to ministers under the new Act instead of district collectors, saying that if the powers were given to ministers, only a section of people would benefit.
Sources in the Chief Minister’s Office said that in a recent meeting with senior officers with regard to the proposed new Act, Mr Rao had categorically told them not to take notice of the apprehensions expressed by the revenue department staff.
The Chief Minister said the state government has successfully brought out the new Panchayat Raj Act and new Municipalities Act, and both have been well received by the public.
Senior officials say privately that the Chief Minister is of the firm opinion that the public will not support revenue employees if they agitate because the people are not sympathetic towards government employees generally.
Sources revealed that Mr Rao feels that if the system is simplified and people can get work done easily from government departments, they will support the government and the ruling TRS. According to sources, the Chief Minister has asked the officers to prepare the draft Act and place it before him within two to three weeks to enable the government to introduce the Act in the ensuing Budget session of the State Assembly.
