The State government has initiated steps to revamp the Telangana Rights in Land and Pattadar Pass Books Act, 2020, popularly known as Record of Rights Act, to address the spate of complaints that arose after the introduction of Dharani portal.
“There are complaints regarding the lapses in Dharani as well as the lapses in updating land records by the officials concerned without cross-checking facts. We have decided to take up total revamp of the existing Act so that the scope for complaints is minimised,” Minister for Revenue Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy said.
The Minister expressed concern that there was no provision for appeal in the legislation enacted by the previous BRS government. “The previous government has denied them (landowners) their constitutional right to go for appeal in case of grievances,” he said. The Congress government had therefore decided to opt for a thorough revamp of the RoR Act giving an opportunity for people to appeal.
He said the government had asked the Revenue department officials to clear the pending applications relating to Dharani as early as possible without giving scope for errors. “We have given strict orders to officials that action will be initiated against them if they reject the applications for rejection sake. The officials concerned should justify their action by mentioning the grounds on which the applications are rejected,” he said in an informal chat with reporters here on Tuesday.
Mr. Srinivas Reddy opined that an in-depth study should be conducted on the operational procedures of Dharani and this was already underway.
Revision of land prices to match market values underway
Asked about the proposed revision of land prices, he said the government took up the exercise in a scientific manner so that the wide variation in the government prices and the actual market values was corrected to a large extent. The previous government announced revision of land prices twice in a single financial year in 2022 without any scientific basis for revision.
“Officials have been asked to keep in mind various factors, including the location of the land and variation in the government values and market values before finalising their report. The new values can come into effect on August 1 or some time later as elaborate exercise factoring in various aspects need to be conducted in this regard,” he said.
Replying to a query on two bedroom housing scheme of the previous government, he said the steps had been taken to complete the houses which would require minimal expenditure and “the completed houses would be handed over to the poorest of the poor,” he averred. Asked about the auction of housing units constructed under Rajiv Swagruha scheme, he said some units were auctioned and the process had been kept on hold in respect of some other units where there were complaints on excessive prices. “The officials concerned have been asked to revisit the process and revise the prices,” he said.
Separate cards for PDS and health
To a query on ration cards, he said huge number of cards were issued as people preferred using them for availing of health services. This resulted in misuse of rice allocated to public distribution system with significant quantities being diverted to black market. The government was therefore contemplating to take up a survey to study the situation and ensure that separate cards were issued so that misuse of the existing cards was prevented.
The government was also considering a policy decision to cover the ailments that were not covered under the Ayushman Bharat and similar schemes so that genuine sections get the benefit of health cover.
