Prohibited Land in Telangana Up by 14L After ’18, No Data Shared

Hyderabad:Mystery deepens over Section 22A lands following revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy’s release of the latest prohibitory list, which puts the total extent of prohibited land at 98 lakh acres — 14 lakh acres higher than the 84 lakh acres recorded when the BRS government shifted to the Dharani system in 2018.

The increase has raised questions over when and under which government the additional 14 lakh acres were brought under the Section 22A prohibitory list. Ponguleti, who took charge as the revenue minister in December 2023, has so far not disclosed the survey numbers or a detailed break-up of the prohibited lands included during the BRS regime between 2018 and 2023, putting the Congress government in a fix.

Though Srinivas Reddy has claimed that the Congress government has ensured transparency by making details of prohibited lands available for the first time, the absence of comparable data from the BRS period has made it difficult to establish whether the additional 14 lakh acres were included during the previous regime or after the Congress government assumed office.

The lack of comparative survey-wise data has consequently fuelled confusion among property owners and raised questions over the manner in which the Section 22A list expanded from 84 lakh acres to 98 lakh acres.

Srinivas Reddy’s offer to publicly apologise for the wrongful inclusion of private properties in the prohibitory list has also failed to pacify affected property owners. They continue to demand the correction of errors and removal of wrongly included private properties from the Section 22A list.

“We do not need your apologies. We want the errors in the prohibitory list to be rectified,” affected property owners have been saying, questioning the continuation of Ponguleti as the revenue minister when nearly one-third of Telangana’s land parcels are under the prohibitory list.

They have also questioned Srinivas Reddy’s claims of ensuring "Diwali fireworks" against BRS leaders and sending them to jail for land irregularities during their tenure. They said that while Ponguleti has been making tall claims about cracking down on encroachments and ordering probe after probe into alleged land irregularities during the BRS regime, no action has been taken against even a single person in the last 33 months.

The continuing discrepancies in the Section 22A list and the revenue department’s failure to provide a clear account of when the additional 14 lakh acres were brought under prohibition have further intensified concerns among property owners and raised questions over the functioning of the revenue department.

Srinivas Reddy's claims that no additional lands were added to the Section 22A prohibited list after the Congress government assumed office in December 2023 have failed to allay fears as the BRS regime's details remain undisclosed.

According to the latest revenue department data, 2,49,97,312 acres of land are recorded on Bhu Bharati, of which 98,02,544 acres fall under Section 22A prohibited categories. Forest lands account for 42,61,531.32 acres, followed by assigned lands at 24,63,930.05 acres, government lands at 16,11,622.35 acres and water bodies/shikam lands at 12,04,314.04 acres. Public assets on government lands account for 1,50,749.62 acres, endowment lands 49,143.17 acres, roads 45,875.13 acres and other categories 15,378.35 acres.

The department said 3,73,524 acres of agricultural land are currently under dispute between the government and private khatadars and have consequently been restricted from transactions under Section 22A.

The department said 23,136 acres had been removed from the prohibited list from 2023-24 till date based on inquiries on applications submitted by people. However, the absence of BRS-era data makes it difficult to assess the significance of this figure or determine the net change in the prohibited extent since the Congress government came to power.

The issue gains significance in the backdrop of the land records purification exercise conducted by the then BRS government between September 2017 and February 2018. Officials examined records relating to around 2.8 crore acres across Telangana. The exercise categorised about 1.42 crore acres as dispute-free land under Part-A and 18 lakh acres as disputed land under Part-B. The February 2018 status released by the BRS government had shown around 84 lakh acres under the Section 22A prohibited list.

A comparison with the latest revenue department figures shows that the prohibited land has increased by more than 14 lakh acres. However, the government has not released data showing how the Section 22A list changed between 2018 and 2023, including lands added, removed or reclassified during the BRS regime.

Official sources said this missing data has emerged as the key point of contention. Without the BRS-era Section 22A figures, they say, it cannot be established whether the increase occurred during the BRS regime, after the Congress came to power, or because of subsequent updating and reconciliation of land records under Bhu Bharati.

The revenue department's secrecy in disclosing the BRS-era figures is raising questions over the Congress government’s own position that no fresh lands were added after December 2023. Releasing year-wise Section 22A data from 2018 to 2023, along with details of additions, deletions and reclassifications, could settle the issue and establish when and why the prohibited extent increased, sources added.