Disburse ₹813 Crore Land Acquisition Funds Immediately, Uttam Tells Collectors

 HYDERABAD: Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday directed District Collectors and Irrigation officials to ensure that funds already released for land acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) reach affected farmers on a war footing, warning that money should not remain parked in government accounts while irrigation projects are held up.

Reviewing the progress of land acquisition and compensation disbursal with the District Collectors through a video conference, Uttam Kumar Reddy expressed concern that about Rs 813 crore was still pending for disbursement in the accounts of District Collectors, Revenue Divisional Officers and Special Deputy Collectors.

Transport and BC Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, Chief Secretary Sanjay Jaju, Secretary to the Chief Minister Manik Raj, Finance Secretary, Sandeep Sultania, Commissioner for Land Acquisition, Siva Kumar Naidu and District Collectors participated in the review.

Officials informed the meeting that since April 1, tokens worth about Rs 3,101 crore had been submitted and around Rs 2,504 crore released towards land acquisition and R&R. Of the amount currently pending at the district level, about Rs 502 crore was with Land Acquisition Officers and another Rs 311 crore with Collectors.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said the accumulation of funds without their reaching land losers was a matter of concern. He asked Collectors to personally intervene and speed up negotiations to facilitate awards and payments.

“If the money has been released, it must reach the land-losing farmers. If for any genuine reason it cannot be disbursed, explain the reason and return the money instead of keeping it idle,” he said.

The Minister recalled that Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had committed Rs 6,000 crore during 2026 for land acquisition, R&R and forest-related requirements of irrigation projects with a view to ensuring quick completion of the irrigation projects. He said these funds were being arranged outside the regular Irrigation budget so that lack of money would not delay priority projects.

Humane approach to farmers parting with land

Uttam made it clear that tokens should be raised only after awards were passed and cases were actually ready for payment. At the same time, he stressed that acquisition must follow a humane and reasonable approach towards farmers. “The government does not want to be unfair to farmers while taking away their land. Compensation should, within the legal framework and due process, be as close as reasonably possible to prevailing market values,” he said.

In cases where in compensation remained unpaid after an award, he instructed officials to pay the statutory interest wherever applicable. In cases involving court or title disputes, the Minister directed officials to compile all pending cases so that they could be taken up with the Advocate General for focused legal action.

The Minister examined district-wise bottlenecks in Nalgonda, Yadadri-Bhongir, Narayanpet, Siddipet, Vikarabad, Jagtial and Hanumakonda, among others. In Nalgonda district, Uttam reviewed delays concerning Chintapalli reservoir, Pendlipaka balancing reservoir, Udayasamudram and Nellikallu. He stressed the urgency of completing acquisition for Pendlipakala, pointing out that the reservoir was crucial to deriving benefits from the SLBC tunnel once it was completed.

“If the tunnel is completed but land acquisition for the balancing reservoir remains unfinished, the investment cannot yield the intended benefit,” he cautioned. Collectors were repeatedly asked to compress timelines, rather than treating two or three weeks as routine administrative processing time.

Uttam said land acquisition had become critical because several irrigation projects were substantially completed and their benefits were being held up mainly by pending distributary canals, connecting works and small stretches requiring acquisition.

The Chief Secretary also stressed prudent financial management, telling Collectors that funds should be sought when cases were ready for payment rather than being allowed to remain idle in bank accounts.