KCR TO SET RIGHT LAND RECORDS

KCR tells officials to update and purify land records

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has sanctioned `50 lakh to each collector to update land records as ownership of lakhs of acres acquired for projects continues to be with farmers.

Lakhs of acres have been acquired for various projects but the ownership continues to be with farmers as per revenue records, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao said on Thursday.

Speaking at a conference of collectors and revenue officials, he said officials had neglected their prime duty of maintaining land records over the years as they were engaged in implementing the government’s welfare and development programmes. This has now resulted in erroneous land records, disputes and litigations, he said.

“We have decided to give `8,000 per acre per year to farmers. When we inquired about the details of farmers and their lands, the reports submitted by the agriculture department and the revenue department did not match. This problem is due to erroneous land records,” he said.

“We have to find out the details about who owns how much land. There should be clarity on land ownership rights. The government has taken several lakhs of acres from farmers for projects but the records were not updated. The revenue records show that these lands are still in the possession of farmers, which is leading to several problems,” the CM said.

“There is a need to have clarity on the land ownership rights. In every village, 80 to 95 per cent land has no disputes. Get clarity on these lands first with the help of people and farmers. In the second phase, identify the lands that are under litigation. We can give clarity on these lands based on the verdicts given by the courts. Identify the government, Wakf, endowment lands besides lands under the government offices etc,” the CM told officials.

Mr Rao sanctioned `50 lakh to each collector to update land records all over the state in three months.

He asked the collectors, joint collectors, RDOs, MROs to give top priority to the programme and give updated land records as the 2018 New Year gift for land owners.

The conference was meant to finalise norms for the proposed land survey and purification of land records from September 15.

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