VIJAYAWADA: Deputy Chief Minister KE Krishnamurthy expressed his dissatisfaction over the tardy regularisation of Dotted Lands in the State. Annoyed over the officials’ failure in following the government directives with regard to regularisation of Dotted Lands (Assigned Lands), Krishnamurthy during a review meeting with Joint Collectors of 13 districts and other officials concerned here on Friday, directed the District Collectors to initiate action against the officials if they are found still lagging behind in implementation of the government directives and updating 22-A List.
He said the main objective of the new Act with regard to 22-A List and Prohibited Lands Purchase Act, is to ensure that the land rights of genuine farmers, who have been cultivating those lands for generations since British era, are protected. “We have conducted Grama Sabhas for one month from June 20 to create awareness among farmers and resolve the long pending issues. However, people are not satisfied as there is no proper response from the officials,” he said.
Stating that he believes in ‘Less Governance is Good Governance’ principle, he said that for that reason he has not intervened much in the functioning of the Revenue Department. “However, with officials failing to follow the government directives, I on the directions of the Chief Minister has organised this review meeting,” he said, expressing his dissatisfaction.
According to the Revenue Minister, even 13 months after the enactment of the new Act, there has not been much progress in redressal of problems with regard to regularisation of the Dotted Lands. There are 3.41 lakh acres of Dotted Lands with 1.84 lakh farmers and the objective is to protect their rights, he said. Pointing out that the government direction which clearly states that lands given to freedom fighters and ex-servicemen can be transferred after 10 years without any need for NOC if there is no conflict with the government, the Deputy Chief Minister demanded to know why then all those beneficiaries are running from pillar to post in revenue offices. From August 15 onwards, special meetings will be held in all the districts to solve the problems, he said.
“We are answerable to the people and explain to them about the status of the promises made as the elections are round the corner. It is found that you people are making some silly queries when the people come with their petitions and rejecting them. This way the reputation of the State government is getting hit. It is unfortunate that in some cases government orders have not been implemented even after two years,” he said.
Speaking to mediapersons, Krishnamurthy said he directed the officials to update the 22-A List on a war footing and in case there was any negligence, the District Collectors were asked to initiate stern action against those responsible for the delay.
He said they extended the last date for receiving petitions in case of binamis till August 20. “There is a need to create more awareness about the free registration of unregistered sale deeds and white paper agreements. As regard to rejection of petitions pertaining to the Dotted Lands, the government is positive and will do justice to genuine beneficiaries,” he said.
Krishnamurthy said he was shocked to know that there are 17,000 cases with regard to dotted lands with West Godavari district tahsildar court and exuded confidence that all will be rectified once Bhudhar project is implemented effectively.Special Chief Secretary and Chief Commissioner of CCLA Anil Chandra Punetha and other officials were present.
Revenue record
3.41 lakh acres Dotted Lands
1.84 lakh Total farmers