SETTING THE LAND RECORD STRAIGHT

The Congress government's Bhu Bharati reforms promise to bring transparency and efficiency in Telangana’s land record management that the previous Dharani portal had failed to do

- Amarnath K. Menon

For over a century, Bhutharaju Jangaih's forefathers had cultivated two acres of inam land that the erstwhile jagirdars had gifted his ancestors. In 2020, the revenue divisional officer had issued the 56-year-old Jangaih an Occupation Rights Certificate (ORC) for over one-tenth of an acre of that land in Yacharam village in Telangana's Ranga Reddy district. But the Dharani portal-launched by the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government the same year had left him in limbo, for it had no provision to issue a patta (land title right with passbook) to someone with an ORC. Now, with the passage of the Telangana Bhu Bharati (Record of Rights in Land) Bill, 2024, Jangaih-and thousands like him across 12 occupancy categories-are hopeful of finally getting their ownership rights.

The new law, which awaits the governor's assent after getting the legislative assembly's nod on December 20, seeks to streamline the state's land record management system, overhauling the now beleaguered Dharani portal that, ironically, was introduced for the very same purpose. Key reforms include the introduction of unique identification numbers for each land parcel, simplification of user interactions, decentralisation of dispute resolution and enhanced data security. With the transfer of the portal's operations to the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and the incorporation of mandatory survey maps into the records, the A. Revanth Reddy-led Congress government has underscored its commitment to fulfil the pre-2023 assembly poll promise of a holistic overhaul.