Poor may be given back land
5 lakh acres assigned to BPL families may have been sold
More than five lakh acres of lands that were assigned to the poor for agricultural purposes several years ago, but changed hands later, are likely to be reassigned to the poor or ‘regularised’.
The ongoing land survey has revealed irregularities in assigned lands. It has found that three lakh acres assigned to the poor across the state has changed hands. It is expected that another two lakh acres that has changed hands will be detected by the time the survey concludes on December 31, as it is only half way through.
The assigned land was found to be either sold by the beneficiaries to others, or was encroached upon by others.
Despite the experience of the past, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has directed revenue officials to explore the possibility of re-assigning these lands to the poor after the survey concludes.
The CM has suggested that assigned lands which are in the possession of BPL (below poverty line) families after the original beneficiaries sold out, or have been encroached upon by BPL families who are doing agriculture, should be reassigned without collecting any penalty or fees.
However, the assigned lands on which permanent structures like educational institutions, resorts, and commercial establishments have come up, mostly on the outskirts of Hyderabad, covering Ranga Reddy, Medak, Nalgonda and Mahbubnagar districts, should be 'regularised' that is, made legal - after making the current owners pay fines. To do this the Assigned Lands Act will have to be amended.
“As per the existing TS Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act, 1977, it is not possible to transfer assigned land to others, or regularise it. Transactions carried out on assigned lands are also invalid. The government will have to amend the Act to reassign the lands,” official sources in the revenue department told this newspaper.
Persons from non-BPL families holding assigned lands will have to pay more. “If regularisation is not possible for such persons, the government is considering leasing out the land and collecting the lease amount annually besides imposing penalty,” the sources added.
Successive state governments in Undivided AP had assigned 20 lakh acres to the poor in the past six decades. Eighty per cent of these assigned lands are believed to have changed hands.
Most of the lands sold by the original beneficiaries are situated in areas close to cities where land prices have skyrocketed in 15 years. By accepting the change of ownership by regularisation, the state government will be defeating the purpose of the legislation and giving a signal to malefactors.