HYDERABAD: In flagrant violation of norms, certain unscrupulous officials from the revenue, stamp, and registration departments are illegally registering assigned lands across various districts in the state.
These assigned lands were allotted by the government to landless poor families, particularly those belonging to the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), and the sale or alienation or transfer of assigned land is both civil and criminal offence under the Telangana Assigned Lands Prohibition of Transfer Act 1977. However, according to sources, illegal registration of assigned lands was rampant across the state, with the involvement of some ‘tahsildars’, sub-registrars, and document writers.
Sources said there has been a spurt in the illegal registration of assigned lands ever since land prices skyrocketed within a 100-km radius of Hyderabad. Each acre of land near National Highway 44 costs anywhere between 2 crore and Rs 5 crore. As a result, a few realtors targeted assignment lands and purchased them in order to convert them into open plots.
Few elected representatives, according to sources, are backing the real estate ventures by purchasing assignment lands and selling them to others. Taking advantage of this, a few tahsildars are allegedly demanding a bribe of at least Rs 1 lakh to issue an NOC or register assignment lands. For instance, a woman tahsildar in the Nizamabad district allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 1 lakh for each acre of assigned land that came up for registration.
According to reliable sources, NOCs were issued for several assigned lands in Jangampally (survey numbers 885/1-7, 936/2-6), Anthampally (Survey Nos. 168/2/3, 168/2/aa, 168/2), old Rajampet (Survey Nos. 112, 113), Narsannapally (Survey No. 115), Bhavanipet (Survey Nos. 769/11a,b1,c1) 769 and Kamareddy district (Survey Nos. 195/a/2, 196, 197). The issue was discovered after some realtors went to register assignment lands with nearby 'patta' land numbers.
In the Mahabubnagar district, 19 guntas of assigned land at Palakonda (Survey No. 282/2) were illegally registered. In the same district, 76 acres of government land, including assigned land in Survey No. 79/1, were registered.
K.P. Venkatramana Reddy, former zilla parishad chairman of undivided Nizamabad district and BJP leader, complained to the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration (CCLA) about alleged sales of assignment lands for real estate ventures in Kamareddy district. He provided the CCLA with survey numbers of assignment lands for further action.
Meanwhile, Commissioner and Inspector General (Registration and Stamps) Rahul Bojja told Deccan Chronicle that he will order an investigation into the alleged sale of assignment lands. Technically, there is no way to register assignment lands because all related survey numbers are listed as prohibited lands in the Dharani portal, he explained.
