Hyderabad: The state government is mulling over the possibility of recommending that the Centre invoke the provisions of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act (the Benami Act), that came into force in November 2016, to attach the properties of landowners who are not coming forward to receive new pattadar passbooks or Rythu Bandhu cheques.
During the recent ‘purification’ of revenue land records undertaken by the government from September 2017 to January 2018, it was found that there are 57,33,025 land holdings (survey numbers).
Out of total 57,33,025 land owners, 52,73,064 submitted Aadhaar details. There is still a backlog of 4,59,961.
In a recent review meeting, officials brought this issue to the notice of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
Officials told him that about 10 per cent of the land owners could be NRIs residing abroad who could not submit Aadhaar details, but the rest 90 per cent could be benamis.
They said Aadhaar linkage could not be achieved only in the districts surrounding Hyderabad where land values are higher. This gives rise to suspicion that the lands might be held on benami names.
Mr Chandrasekhar Rao told officials to give a final date of June 20 and then write to the Centre seeking inquiry whether they were benami properties.
