Heralds a new land reform – Hindu

tThe N. Chandrababu Naidu government has introduced a series of land reforms to overhaul the land management in Andhra Pradesh. These include the formulation of new laws and amendment of existing laws, implementation of policy changes, introduction of management changes to simplify the management of land records, and resolving land disputes. The government claims that these measures are necessary to protect property rights, ensure transparency and improve land governance efficiency.

A major legislative change is the repeal of the Andhra Pradesh Land Ownership Act 2024. The government argues that previous laws proposed by the Islamic State Government have removed the role of civil courts in land disputes and that landowners are subject to discretion by registered officials who lack the necessary legal knowledge. Another reform is the Andhra Pradesh Land Robbery (Prohibition) Act, the 2024 Act, which stipulates the imprisonment from 10 to 14 years, and the value of the fine equivalent to the robbery of property. The law also provides for the establishment of special courts to deal with cases of land trapping.

At the ongoing budget meeting, the Government proposed an amendment to Andhra Pradesh rights under the Land and Patadal Pass Act 1971. A previous amendment made by the YSRCP government in 2022 designated district tax officials as complaining bodies related to rights records. However, the Naidu government believes that the change has led to delays and accessibility issues and proposes to restore the early system, which sub-collectors or revenue zoning officials serve as the appeal authority.

Several administrative reforms have also been introduced to register with modern land. For example, the secondary registrant will now be the same as the visitor, rather than sitting in an overhead position. This symbolizes a transition to civil-friendly governance. The government also plans to allow citizens to book slots in advance to allow document registration in the sub-registration office. Additionally, plans are being developed for the “Anywhere Register” facility that will enable land transactions to be conducted from any location using advanced technology.

The government also conducted a comprehensive review of freehold land and the 22A list, which restricted the sale of certain government-allocated land. The YSRCP government had previously amended the Andhra Pradesh designated Land (Prohibited Transfer) Act of 1977, granting the government the feasible right to verify the original assignee of the land. The amendment applies to agricultural land allocated 20 years ago and to housing locations allocated 10 years ago. The Naidu government has reverified these freehold land records and has determined a 32% deviation of the acres registered as freehold. Of the total of 1.35 million acres, further irregularities were observed on 1.35 million acres converted to freehold. Regional collectors have been directed to investigate these biases and take necessary actions.

As part of a comprehensive land re-study program, the government has updated its guidance and adopted advanced technology. Although the YSRCP government launched a similar plan earlier, the YSR Jagananna Shaswata Bhu Hakku Mariyu Bhu Raksha Padhakam, the NDA government has made changes. It also deleted photos of former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy from Pattadar Passbooks and Survey Stones. It has investigated suspected violations in land allocation under housing schemes during the previous administration.

In the past nine months, the government has addressed 274,000 resentments related to the reinvestigation of 274,000 from 6,688 villages. In addition, the 2.12 million income-related complaints received through the recently conducted revenue Sadassulu program have been resolved. As part of this initiative, officials visited the villages to interact with people and address land-related issues.

To institutionalize these reforms, the state government was chaired by Tax Minister Anagani Satya Prasad on March 5. Although the government insists that all these measures are designed to correct past violations and modernize the system, their long-term impact on property rights and dispute resolution remains to be seen.