The Congress government in Telangana has decided to scrap the Act related to land records brought in by the previous Bharath Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government in 2020 with much fanfare.
The Telangana Rights in Land and Pattadar Pass Books Act, 2020 had created an online Record of Rights named “Dharani”. However, numerous complaints dogged the new system as many landowners complained that they did not receive the passbook or found erroneous entries in the records. A section also tried to voice out that there was no proper grievance mechanism for the Act. During the Assembly elections in November of 2023, the Congress party amplified the issues and complaints surrounding the Act and promised voters to rectify the system. After almost a year in power, Revenue Minister Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy introduced the Bhu Bharathi Bill in the Assembly.
“The Dharani portal gave rise to lakhs of new issues in just three years. The issues that had to be resolved at the level of revenue officers are now in court premises. The previous rulers misused Dharani to their advantage. The poor did not have a mechanism to air their grievances. Our leader, Rahul Gandhi had promised to dump the Dharani in the Arabian Sea. Believing in his promises, people of Telangana have voted us to power,” said Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy in the Assembly while introducing the Bill.
The Congress government in Telangana is publicising the new bill in a big way by splashing ads in newspapers and talking about it at length.
”In order to resolve the land problems faced by the land owners in the state and create a user-friendly online portal for maintaining the Record of Rights, there is an urgent need to enact a new law addressing the lacunae in the previous Record of Rights Act,” read the contents of the Bill.
According to the Bill, non-agricultural lands will also be brought under its ambit. It aims to provide a redressal mechanism in case of any disputes and also the chance for appeals. Apart from conducting a re-survey of existing lands, the Bill also aims to protect government lands and create a user-free portal to replace Dharani.
Politically, the Bill is being seen by the Congress government as a major milestone that will help woo voters from rural and farming communities.
