Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy addressed discrepancies in land records discovered during a pilot project in Nagarjuna Sagar’s Tirumalagiri mandal. In 14 villages, about 2,600 acres were found to be under the control of influential individuals instead of rightful owners.
“We will rectify these discrepancies and distribute pattas. A public meeting will be held with the Chief Minister where the lands grabbed by the rich will be distributed to the poor. Later, such surveys will be taken up across the state and all the lands will be given to their rightful owners,” he assured. In a media conversation, Ponguleti also brought to light massive land irregularities.
“Thousands of acres belonging to revenue, endowments, forest, and waqf boards
were encroached upon. Sub-registrar records from 2014 showed significant alterations involving over 2,000 acres,” he said.
Ponguleti said that “bigwigs from the BRS and their followers” manipulated records to their advantage.
“Coloured people who don’t have land created false papers and got Rythu Bandhu. Those in positions were not given benefits. We are filtering out,” he said.
A new web-based platform, an upgrade of Dharani, enabling the superimposition of SRO prohibited lists with encroached government lands. This measure aims to ensure such lands are reclaimed and protected. The controversial GO 59, which allegedly allowed high-value lands worth Rs 80-100 crore to be manipulated with false certifications, is under review, the Minister said. The government is also investigating irregularities in prime locations like Khajaguda and Narsingi. More lands will be scrutinised to prevent legal disputes,” he said.
“In Siddipet, nearly 200 acres of revenue land was transferred to private entities about 40 pink persons. Then through them, it was transferred to companies. This modus operandi was done through pink persons,” the government has pledged to reclaim encroached lands and prevent further misuse.
Ponguleti highlighted issues in Ranganaik Sagar and Kaleshwaram projects alleging that land acquisitions were mishandled under the previous administration.
“Farmers were terrorized, and notifications benefited a select few. We will ensure accountability,” he emphasized.
