Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has directed officials to take prompt action to clear pending land applications under Dharani portal.
He said this at a review meeting on Dharani with committee members and senior officials on Saturday. Stressing the urgency, Mr. Revanth Reddy instructed Revenue officials to expedite the process across all Tahsildar offices by the first week of March. Currently, the State is grappling with 2.45 lakh pending cases regarding the Dharani system.
He said that his government would rectify the issues at the earliest, and added that it was considering amending the Telangana Rights in Land and Pattadar Passbooks Act 2020 or Record of Rights (RoR) in Land Act and introduce new laws based on the committee’s final assessment.
The committee on Dharani highlighted the challenges stemming from the hasty completion of a comprehensive land survey within three months under the BRS government leading to numerous discrepancies. These errors, ranging from minor typographical mistakes to substantive issues, necessitate corrections often requiring farmers’ involvement. A fee of ₹1,000 per correction has to be paid.
Additionally, concerns were raised regarding the lack of clarity among farmers regarding appropriate modules to rectify the errors. The meeting also pointed out at the lack of coordination between the departments of Registration and Revenue allowing even prohibited land transactions. Mismanagement of government funds allocated for Rythu Bandhu showed the financial oversight of BRS government, Mr. Revanth Reddy said.
Probe ordered
In response to growing apprehensions regarding data security and management, the CM ordered a comprehensive investigation into the private agency overseeing the Dharani portal.
Expressing dismay at outsourcing of such a critical function to private entities, he spoke about the integrity of sensitive land records. Queries regarding the company’s significant financial gains for work on Dharani underscored apprehensions about potential malpractice and data security breaches.
Minister for Revenue Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy, Chief Minister’s Adviser Vem Narender Reddy and Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari attended the meeting.