Hyderabad: In a startling revelation, revenue and housing minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy disclosed that preliminary investigation by the revenue department had found that over 2,000 acres of prime government land had been encroached upon during the BRS regime. The value of these land parcels is estimated at around Rs 50,000 crore.
The encroached land parcels are spread across Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Medchal-Malkajgiri and Sangareddy districts. They originally belonged to revenue, endowments, Waqf and forest departments, he said. The minister wondered about the potential magnitude of the scam once investigations are completed across districts.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle on Friday, the minister alleged that these properties were illegally transferred to "benamis" under the guise of Government Order 59 (GO 59), which was issued by the BRS government to regularise government land. He assured that the Congress government has initiated an extensive inquiry to expose the culprits and reclaim the encroached land.
Srinivas Reddy highlighted specific cases of misuse, including 380 acres in Siddipet and 8.5 acres in Hyderabad’s upscale Raidurg area, where land costs range from Rs 80 crore to Rs 100 crore per acre.
In Raidurg, government land was divided into 999-square-yard plots and illegally transferred to private individuals.
In Sangareddy, large parcels were transferred to private parties, who later sold them to companies. The minister stated that the Congress government is scrutinising land records from before the formation of Telangana in 2014 to identify illegal transfers and reclaim the properties.
Srinivas Reddy criticised the BRS government's 2018 Revenue Act and the 2020 launch of the Dharani portal, which digitised land records. He claimed that these initiatives lacked transparency and facilitated illegal transactions by removing the "prohibited list" of government properties from sub-registrar offices.
“Previously, manual land records (pahani) had 39 columns detailing ownership history and land classification. The BRS government reduced this to one column, leaving no trace of land origin or transaction history,” he said.
To address these issues, the Congress government will reinstate detailed land records with 12-14 columns.
The minister announced that a new Revenue Act (RoR Act) would be introduced in the Legislative Assembly’s Winter Session that begins on December 9. This Act aims to rectify flaws in the previous legislation, streamline the land mutation process, and reintroduce revenue tribunals to resolve disputes.
“Revenue tribunals will be restored, and village revenue officers (VROs) will return to the revenue department by Sankranti. This will enhance government oversight and prevent further encroachments,” Srinivas Reddy said.
The minister revealed that the Congress government had terminated the private management of Dharani portal, handing its operation to the National Informatics Centre (NIC), a central government entity. He accused the BRS government of compromising the security of land records by outsourcing their management.
Addressing land ownership complaints, Reddy stated that out of 3.4 lakh applications pending during the BRS regime, the Congress government had resolved 2.35 lakh cases in a special drive earlier this year. The remaining cases are under review.
“We have examined Revenue Acts in 18 states and adopted their best practices to create a flawless Revenue Act for Telangana,” he said, adding that the proposed Act will prioritise safeguarding land records and resolving disputes efficiently.
The minister assured the public that these reforms would restore transparency, resolve long-pending land issues, and protect government land from future encroachments.
