Bhu Bharathi 2024 Bill tabled in Telangana Assembly, to protect farmers’ rights

Opposition parties have sought a day to study the draft of 2024 Bill and suggest amendments.

Hyderabad: The Telangana Bhu Bharathi (Record of Rights in land) Bill 2024 was tabled on the fourth day of the Winter Session of the Telangana Assembly on Wednesday, December 18.Tabling the Bill on the floor, state revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy said that the rights of small and marginal farmers, in possession of 5 or 10 guntas of land, but have no ownership, will be protected.

9,24,000 ‘Saada Bainama’ applications to be resolved

For 9,24,000 applications under the ‘Saada Bainama’ lands that were applied for registration during the previous BRS government, minister Srinivas Reddy said that the 2024 Bill will help register applicants who have submitted applications online by November 10, 2020.

Land tribunals to be set up

The 2024 Bill will help set up land tribunals to address issues of those farmers whose applications were rejected during the registration process.

Apart from the registration and mutation of lands with clear ownership during its sale or inheritance, the minister informed the Assembly there were 14 different types of land registration matters. The revenue divisional officer (RDO) will perform the mutation. If not resolved, farmers can approach the land tribunals for help.

Resolution of 18,26,000 acres of lands in Part-B

To resolve the issues of 18,26,000 acres of private and government lands currently under Part-B in the Dharani portal, the minister said that the passbooks issued before 2014 would be taken as the basis. In cases that have been pending in the court, the rightful owner will be presented with the land.

In cases of land sales with clear ownership at the mandal revenue official (MRO) level, registration and mutation will be completed on the spot as per the 2020 Act. However, if anyone has objections to the sale, they can file an appeal with the RDO and district collectors, who will serve as appellate authorities under the 2024 Bill.

In cases of mutation of inherited land, the new 2024 Bill proposes a cut-off date. Mutation will be performed by revenue officials only after they ascertain how many in the family have rights to the land in question. Appeals can be made at RDO and district collector levels, the minister said.

The minister also informed that the chief commissioner of land (CCLA) will be in-charge of protecting various types of lands like Inam, Waqf, forest, endowments, shikham and other government lands.

The 2024 Bill also proposes to provide legal protection to those who possess land under the ‘aabadi’ and ‘grama kantham’ lands, by issuing ownership cards.

To address land disputes, the state government has proposed a survey to determine the current occupants of land following which it will be given to the rightful owner.

Bhudhar cards for farmers

A ‘Bhudhar card’ will be provided to every farmer with a code, revealing the details about their land, the minister informed the Assembly.

Annual ‘Jamabandi’ and village revenue system to be restored

The state government has proposed to restore ‘Jamabandi‘, the process of reviewing and recording all the sale of lands including gift, transfer and sale of lands at the village level.

Jamabandi was discontinued after the enactment of the 2020 Act by the previous BRS government.

“Village-level revenue officials (VROs) and village revenue assistants (VRAs) were present in 10,956 villages. However, the previous chief minister, K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), halted the system. A village-level revenue official will be attached to every revenue village to conduct Jamabandi and maintain the record of transactions while protecting government lands,” the minister said.

Revenue records preservation, action against officials at fault

On manual pahanis (an important legal document related to land issued by tehsildar) gone missing, the minister said that a record of all the revenue data would be uploaded online. These records will be preserved and maintained by the village revenue official.

The minister said that strict action will be taken against officials found guilty of carrying out land transactions illegally.

Recalling that the 33 modules, previously used before the introduction of Dharani, were reduced to just 3 modules, minister Srinivas Reddy stated that Bhu Bharathi will feature six modules. Additionally, the land records, which were consolidated into a single column in the Dharani Portal, will be expanded and restored to 11 columns in Bhu Bharathi.

Complaint registration option in Bhu Bharathi

The 2024 Bill contains provisions to lodge complaints regarding encroachments by logging into the Bhu Bharathi app. The complaint will be overseen by the principal secretary of the revenue department and the minister concerned.

Occupied government lands to be taken back

The minister said that the state government is considering distributing lands to the poor which were forcefully taken away or grabbed illegally.

“All land records in villages before 2014 will be preserved in the sub-registrar’s offices. The government will superimpose them with the present land records. Government lands that were illegally grabbed will be taken back. The state government is considering the prospect of distributing those lands to the poor,” the minister informed the Assembly.

Rules to be framed in 3 months

He assured that within three months, the rules for the 2024 Bill (after enactment), will be framed and an awareness programme will be conducted by touring the villages and mandals.

“Because of the loopholes in the 2020 Act, people have lost their land rights. Murders took place, differences came between parents and children, and brothers within a family did not talk. People have lost whatever little land they had and are on the roads. The proposed 2024 Bill addresses these issues effectively,” the minister assured.

Opposition seeks time to study draft 2024 Bill

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi, senior Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA T Harish Rao and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Palvai Harish have sought a day to study the draft 2024 Bill and suggest amendments.

State legislative affairs minister D Sridhar Babu obliged their request and requested the Assembly Speaker to adjourn the House and provide adequate time for the Opposition to study and reply to the draft 2024 Bill on Thursday, December 19.