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Snail’s pace of Land Regularization Scheme process gives edge to middlemen: HMDA
Despite introducing online system, the process of land regularisation has been moving at a snail’s pace. While the HMDA has received about 1.8 lakh applications, it had cleared only 32,000 applications.
Hyderabad: Despite introducing online system, the process of land regularisation has been moving at a snail’s pace. While the HMDA has received about 1.8 lakh applications, it had cleared only 32,000 applications.
The slow pace of processing has led to rampant corruption and had given scope for middlemen to make hay. According to N Anjaiah, city committee president of Federation of Associations of Colonies and Apartments, the HMDA had so far cleared only 20,000 applications in last one year. According to the original GO, the HMDA was supposed to either accept or reject the applications within six months of applying online, he said.
The HMDA is also supposed to update its website and keep the applicant informed of the status of the application. But this was not being done. Once the application was uploaded, the HMDA is supposed to take up ground verification and after that it should keep the applicant posted about the status of the application. But this was not being done. This was giving scope for corruption as middlemen offer to get the application cleared if the applicant pays them Rs 20,000, alleged Anjaiah.
Anjaiah further said that the HMDA was collecting ‘nala tax’ though there is no mention of it in the GO. The federation demands that the authorities make the seller pay the LRS and not punish the buyer. The buyers normally give the agreement deed to an advocate and check if the land they propose to buy can be get registered or not.
The district collectors, MROs and gram panchayats should take measures to create awareness among the common man so that he can avoid being cheated by some realtors.
He said that when they asked the Commissioner of HMDA about the delay in processing the applications, they were told that they were short of staff.
There are only 70 employees and the proposals for more staff was pending with the government. The Commissioner informed them that the government had now given permission to take 50 employees on contract basis and the applications would be cleared by August.
Reacting to the allegations, HMDA commissioner T Chiranjeevulu told The Hans India that they have been levying additional penalties only on LRS applicants who have converted their agricultural lands in to non-agriculture lands without obtaining permission of the revenue authorities.
Asked about the delay in processing the applications, he said the issue was in court till August 2015. The HMDA had taken up processing the applications from October 2015. He said they have disposed off 32,000 applications so far. Priority was being given to applications that were received between 2008 and 2013. The HMDA had received about 52,000 applications during this period.
He said the scrutiny of applications has four levels which includes title scrutiny, technical scrutiny, site inspection and payment of LRS fee. He said the HMDA had issued payment notices to 7,546 applicants and out of them about 4,000 applicants had already made the payments.
When asked about middlemen looting the public, Chiranjeevulu said that they existed in the past but not now. He added that all applications would be cleared by August 2017.
