He said the Dharani portal would leave no scope for officials to use discretionary power
Hyderabad: Ushering in a new beginning that would ensure clean and tamper-proof land records for the first time in the country, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao launched the Dharani portal at the Tahsildar’s office at Mudu Chintalapalli in Medchal Malkajgiri district on Thursday amid Vedic chants. He also offered floral tributes to the statue of Veera Reddy, who went to jail fighting for separate Telangana during the first phase of the agitation.
“When there was no organised agriculture, there was no need for records. Land values increased after agriculture became an occupation. Many tried to cleanse the system and they failed. Now, we have taken a decisive step to give a final solution to this problem,” he said, addressing a public meeting. He said the Dharani portal would leave no scope for officials to use discretionary power.
“Many political leaders shudder to take tough decisions and think twice before they implement them. But I made this announcement in the State Assembly itself,” he said. Referring to Mission Bhagiratha, he said he had kept his word. “This region will also benefit from the drinking water project once the Mallanna Sagar project, a part of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, is completed,” he said.
He said Telangana achieved the highest per capita power consumption in the country because of the bold reforms undertaken by his government. “At a cost of Rs 26,000 crore, we augmented the power sector with new power lines, substations and transformers. In welfare sector too, we have excelled other States. We also left behind Andhra Pradesh in food production,” he said.
The Chief Minister said land records and their maintenance had been a big headache for the government. “When I told the revenue staff that I had decided to cleanse the process, they assured me that they would support the revolutionary changes envisaged by me,” he said. There would, however, be teething problems for any major reform and one must work through it to achieve the goal. “Today, I saw details of 1,45,58,000 acres of agriculture lands when Dharani went live,” he said, adding that the people of Telangana could seek details of their property in the portal from anywhere in the world.
He said fear of illegal transfer of wakf, endowments, forest and government land was completely addressed as such properties were kept under auto-lock. “Not even the District Collector can open them,” he said. “It has been reported that someone in Delhi sold the Delhi Railway Station and someone even got a bank loan by pledging the documents,” he recalled. He said the portal for which he sat through over 150-200 meetings with senior officials would have been a reality six months ago but for the Covid pandemic.
The Chief Minister said the government had recruited 570 Mandal Revenue Officers to improve the efficiency of the Revenue Department. The VROs will be absorbed into other departments, he said, and asked them not to worry about their future. “Very soon, the government will declare the names of authorised document writers. If anyone who can’t prepare their own document from the proforma given in the portal can pay a fixed amount and get their document written by the authorised document writers, he said.
Explaining the process of registration and mutation, Rao said once the buyer and seller decide on the price, they can inform the same to the MRO, pay the required fee for registration and also mutation, and book a slot of their choice. The actual process of registration would only take 15-20 minutes. “If anyone is particular about a day or would like to wait for an auspicious day, they can book a slot accordingly,” he said.
The Chief Minister said after the process of addition and deletion in records of the persons concerned undertaking the transactions is over, the passbook would be given to them. “If it is a new land, the owner will receive the passbook by courier or post, giving no chance for corruption or delay,” he said. He also said the government had not increased the rates for registration or mutation despite the financial hardships faced by the government. He said the lockdown had hit the State hard and the Centre was not coming out with any financial help. He said the State was yet to receive the GST compensation.
He advised farmers not to panic if there was any technical glitch in any village. “I have directed the officials to have technical teams ready for every mandal and district. They will attend and they will sort out problems,” he said.
Highlighting the need to have a peaceful environment in villages for growth, he said every village had people that create trouble — kirkiri in local slang. Narrating a story from epic Ramayana, where Lord Rama was forced to kill the demons in one go with a Rama Bana, the Chief Minister said those who died prematurely because of the massive weapon reincarnated as “Kirkiri” batch in Telangana villages. “They create hurdles by picking up litigation. That is why I have incorporated tough regulations in Dharani,” he said.
“In case of hereditary properties, we have given the family the right to decide. The registration authority will only register the document that is approved by the entire family by signing a document of resolution agreeing for the said partition. “If in later days they disagree, the MRO or the government will not be responsible and they have to take the issue to court for further action,” he said. He said the system was clear that no one but the MRO, buyer or seller whose fingerprints are recorded would be responsible for the transaction.
“In a few days, we will embark on fixing coordinates for every piece of land in the State. These are 100 per cent tamper-proof. Once the coordinates are fixed, the litigation will automatically end. Once villages are litigation free, there will be overall development. More canals will be filled, more acres will be cultivated, horticulture will flourish to feed the one crore population in Hyderabad and another 30 lakh floating population,” he said.
Assuring farmers that Rythu Bandhu scheme would be continued till he is alive, the Chief Minister said Dharani would be the base for delivering financial assistance to farmers through their bank accounts. He reiterated the government’s stand that Rythu Bandhu would not be extended to tenant farmers.
The Chief Minister announced that the deadline for applications for regularisation of Sada Bainamas (land transactions on plain paper) had been extended by a week. “So far, the response is very encouraging. We have received 1,64,000 applications so far. But after this, there will be no more extensions, as we have decided to put an end to this type of transactions,” he said.
Rao also assured the tribal farmers that he would soon regularise “Podu” lands and personally visit the tribal villages. He said so far 95 per cent of the Rythu Vedikas had been completed in the clusters and he would be inaugurating one on October 31 in Warangal district. He called upon revenue staff to be friendly with the citizens when they visit their offices for help.
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