6 days ago
Telangana’s Prohibited Land List Raises Questions Over 14 Lakh Acres
Telangana keeps a list of land that cannot normally be sold or transferred.
The list now covers about 98 lakh acres.
In 2018, it covered about 84 lakh acres, so the list is larger by roughly 14 lakh acres.
Officials have not shown exactly when or why those extra acres were added.
This makes it hard to know whether the increase happened under the earlier BRS government, the current Congress government, or through later record updates.
The revenue minister says no new land was added after December 2023.
Some property owners say private land was wrongly included and want the errors fixed.
The government says it has removed more than 23,000 acres after reviewing applications.
Telangana’s latest Section 22A list covers 98,02,544 acres, up from about 84 lakh acres in February 2018.
The revenue department has not released survey-wise or year-wise data showing when the additional 14 lakh acres entered the list.
Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy says no additional land was added after the Congress government took office in December 2023.
Property owners are demanding correction and removal of wrongly prohibited private properties rather than an apology.
The department says 23,136 acres were removed from the list from 2023-24 onward following inquiries into applications.
- Who
- The Telangana revenue department, Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, and affected property owners are central to the dispute.
- What
- The Section 22A prohibited-land list has grown from about 84 lakh acres in 2018 to 98,02,544 acres, but the government has not provided a detailed account of the increase.
- Where
- Telangana, including land records maintained on the Bhu Bharati system.
- When
- The comparison is between the February 2018 figures and the latest revenue department data; Srinivas Reddy became revenue minister in December 2023.
- Why
- The absence of BRS-era, survey-wise data has created uncertainty about when land was added, removed, or reclassified and whether private properties were wrongly included.
Government Position
Property Owners’ Concerns
Timing of the increase
Government Position
Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy says no additional land was added to the Section 22A list after the Congress government assumed office in December 2023.
Property Owners’ Concerns
Property owners and officials say the claim cannot be independently assessed without figures showing additions, removals, and reclassifications during the BRS period from 2018 to 2023.
Transparency and accountability
Government Position
Srinivas Reddy says the Congress government has made prohibited-land details available and has ordered inquiries into land-related issues.
Property Owners’ Concerns
Affected owners say the available information is insufficient and question why the government has not released comparable BRS-era data or taken action against alleged irregularities.
Wrongly restricted private land
Government Position
The minister has offered to publicly apologise for wrongful inclusion and the department says land has been removed after reviewing applications.
Property Owners’ Concerns
Property owners say they do not want an apology; they want errors corrected and wrongly included private properties removed from the Section 22A list.
Key facts
- Latest prohibited land
- 98,02,544 acres are listed under Section 22A prohibited categories.
- 2018 prohibited land
- About 84 lakh acres were listed in February 2018 after the BRS government’s land-records exercise.
- Increase
- The latest figure is more than 14 lakh acres higher than the 2018 figure.
- Total land on Bhu Bharati
- 2,49,97,312 acres are recorded on the Bhu Bharati system.
- Largest prohibited category
- Forest lands account for 42,61,531.32 acres.
- Disputed agricultural land
- The department says 3,73,524 acres are under dispute between the government and private khatadars.
- Land removed
- 23,136 acres were removed from the prohibited list from 2023-24 to the latest reporting period after inquiries.
Quotes
Affected property owners
Property owners affected by allegedly wrongful inclusions in Telangana’s Section 22A prohibitory list
“We do not need your apologies. We want the errors in the prohibitory list to be rectified”
deccanchronicle.com
Sources
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