RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM: Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Friday expressed strong displeasure over the Revenue department’s failure to distribute updated Pattadar Passbooks to all eligible farmers in Vedurupaka village of Rayavaram mandal in East Godavari district and warned of stringent action against those responsible.
Addressing farmers and local residents at a Praja Vedika programme in Vedurupaka village of Mandapeta Assembly constituency, the Chief Minister said delays in issuing pattadar passbooks would not be tolerated. He personally distributed passbooks to two farmers, interacted with beneficiaries and took photographs with them. “Despite repeated instructions, passbooks have not reached all eligible farmers,” he said.
The Chief Minister directed officials to conduct gram sabha meetings, read out the details entered in the passbooks, invite objections, rectify errors and distribute corrected documents in a transparent manner.
During the interaction, Joint Collector Y Mega Swaroop, East Godavari, informed the Chief Minister that Vedurupaka village has 2,023 farmers, of whom 1,800 passbooks had been prepared. He said e-KYC had been completed for 900 farmers and passbooks were distributed accordingly. However, when the Chief Minister asked farmers how many had actually received the passbooks, only a few raised their hands.
Observing this, the Chief Minister expressed dissatisfaction and instructed MLAs, MPs, Ministers and Revenue officials to take the issue seriously and ensure complete distribution. He came down heavily on the previous government and said the NTR government abolished the Grama Karanam and Munasab system in 1983 and introduced reforms in rural administration.
The Chief Minister said his government repealed the AP Titling Act, removed former Chief Minister Jagan’s photograph from the passbooks and reissued them with the official Andhra Pradesh government seal. “Despite several reminders, I do not understand where the system went wrong,” he remarked.
He said modernisation of land records and resurvey would help prevent land encroachments. He instructed officials not to distribute passbooks at farmers’ houses or MRO offices and said they must issue them strictly through gram sabha meetings.
The CM said the government would secure all land records using blockchain tech to ensure permanent and tamper-proof documentation. He added that the process of rectifying errors and distributing Pattadar Passbooks would continue.