VIJAYAWADA: The massive drive for the issuance of new Pattadar Passbooks commenced across Andhra Pradesh on Friday, marking a significant step towards streamlining land administration.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu described the distribution of passbooks bearing the official State seal as a New Year gift to farmers, fulfilling the promise made during the elections. He emphasised that the government’s foremost duty is to eliminate land disputes and ensure that farmers, whose lives depend on land, face no ownership issues.
Minister for Revenue, Registration and Stamps Anagani Satya Prasad formally launched the programme at Donepudi village in Kolluru mandal of Bapatla district.
At the Primary Agricultural Cooperative Society office, he inaugurated the district-level programme along with Bapatla MP Tenneti Krishna Prasad, CCLA Commissioner Jayalakshmi, District Collector Dr V Vinod Kumar, Vemuru MLA Nakka Anand Babu and Joint Collector Bhavana Vishishta. The leaders inspected revenue records, reviewed land details online and interacted with farmers.
As part of the initiative, 21.80 lakh passbooks will be distributed between January 2 and 9 in villages where the re-survey has been completed. Revenue gram sabhas are being organised across the State to hand over the passbooks, which are prepared strictly in accordance with Webland data, ensuring accuracy and eliminating errors. In Bapatla district alone, 31,760 titles will be issued, including 888 passbooks distributed in Donepudi on the first day.
Speaking on the occasion, Satya Prasad reiterated the government’s commitment to resolving land disputes across AP’s 17,500 revenue villages, many of which face long-pending issues.
He noted that Aadhaar and phone numbers are being linked to land records, and strict action will be taken against officials found guilty of malpractice. Other leaders praised the initiative, stating that the new passbooks, issued with the State seal and QR codes, will provide farmers with secure and transparent land records.
The programme comes in the backdrop of widespread dissatisfaction over Resurvey 1.0 undertaken by the previous YSRCP government, which issued passbooks carrying the image of then Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Complaints of errors in names, measurements, addresses and contact numbers were rampant. The coalition government, which assumed office in 2024, vowed to rectify these mistakes and reissue error-free passbooks with the State emblem instead of political images.
Over the last 18 months, the Revenue Department organised gram sabhas in every village, receiving over two lakh petitions and resolving issues raised by farmers. The new passbooks, equipped with QR codes, are being issued after recording farmers’ fingerprints, completing KYC verification by local VROs and obtaining farmers’ signatures to confirm receipt.
Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, in a teleconference with ministers, said the initiative would bring joy to every household and represents a decisive step towards transparent and dispute-free land ownership. He also announced that he would personally participate in the distribution programme for one day, underscoring its importance.