New Revenue Act to usher in new era

Hyderabad: The new Revenue Act being proposed by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is all set to make Telangana a 'land litigation-free' state, where land litigation has been a big problem for decades.

The government wants to change the existing Act as it was full of loopholes giving officials and land encroachers ample scope to exploit the laws and occupy the lands-owned either by the government or the common people.

Top officials of the Revenue department told the Hans India that the government has come to a conclusion that the officials from the rank of Village Revenue Officer (VRO) to the Joint Collector at district level and Assistant Section Officer to CCLA (Chief Commissioner Land Administration) were capitalising on the weak Revenue Acts and the poor farmers have been at the receiving end in the highly corrupt Revenue department in the state.

Lakhs of land dispute cases mainly on ownership of the property are pending at different levels at village panchayats to the Secretariat level. Some of them are also pending in the courts for decades.

Officials said the government is mulling to trim the absolute powers enjoyed by village and mandal level Revenue heads and transfer the powers to the RDO (Revenue Division Officer) or create a new mechanism at the Revenue division level to sort out the land disputes instantly.

To bring radical reforms in the Revenue department, the Chief Minister is also planning to give more judicial powers to the RDOs and Joint Collectors to dispose of the land disputes without any delay.

Officials said the other big challenge before the government is to issue title deeds to the farmers without any errors and accord complete ownership to the rightful owners. Currently, farmers will have to submit no objection certificate on the ownership lands to get a clear title.

If any person raises objection, the village official would keep the file to issue title deeds in pending until the farmer furnished all required documents.

Nearly three lakh cases of litigation on lands for the issuance of title deeds are gathering dust in the Revenue offices. Government cannot resolve the cases unless the existing laws are refurbished, the officials said and added that Special Chief Secretary Rajeshwar Tiwari and CCLA officials were entrusted with the responsibility of preparation of new Revenue Act in consultation with Special Advisor Rajiv Sharma.

The new Revenue Bill will be introduced in the Budget Session of the Assembly to be held in September first week.

The government had already taken serious view of the strong opposition to the proposed Revenue Act by its officials and a meeting by the government with the Revenue Employees Association is likely to be held shortly and seek suggestions to strengthen the Revenue department.