Telangana Bhu Bharati Bill Presented In Assembly

Telangana Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy today presented the Telangana Bhu Bharati Bill 2024 in the Assembly, and said that the Bill focused on protecting the land rights of common people.

He also described the opportunity to present the Bill as a momentous achievement in his career.

Speaking during the Bill's introduction, the minister explained that the Bill was a comprehensive overhaul of the previous ROR Act of 2020. After extensive consultations, including 40 days of public feedback via a dedicated website and suggestions from intellectuals, poets, retired officials and public representatives, the revised Bill had been crafted to address past shortcomings and provide a robust framework for land governance, he claimed.

He assured landowners and stakeholders that Bhu Bharati was designed to last for at least a century and committed to protecting land rights.

The minister also said that the Bill would provide an opportunity to reform revenue records, including the reduction of manual errors by safeguarding both computerized and manual copies of revenue data. Six simplified modules had been introduced in the Bill for land records management, reducing the complexity of Dharani's earlier 33 modules, and the pahani records were expanded to 11 columns, restoring essential details omitted in the earlier single-column format, he said.

He also said that the rules would be drafted within three months to avoid delays of the kind seen under the previous government. "The State government will organize revenue conferences at the village level to resolve issues swiftly, and will create a unified land law encompassing all existing acts for better governance," he added.

Key Highlights of the Bhu Bharati Bill 2024:

- Addressing past issues: The act resolves land issues in 18 lakh acres in two categories - Part A and Part B - including rural and village settlement problems.
- Permanent land dispute solutions: By introducing an enjoyment survey mechanism, the act seeks to prevent future disputes.
- Appeals mechanism: A new authority is being established to handle appeals and errors in mutations during land registration.
- Inheritance rights: The act expands mutation powers to cover 14 categories of land rights, including sale deeds, inheritance and court orders.
- Simplified land records: The act introduces a Bhu Bharati number for all land parcels, akin to Aadhaar for individuals.
- Tribunals for grievances: Land tribunals will address disputes and appeals, with the government deciding the number based on necessity.