VIJAYAWADA: The coalition government in Andhra Pradesh has moved decisively to resolve long-pending land disputes by lifting restrictions on thousands of acres listed under Section 22-A prohibited lands.
Officials confirmed that over 1.6 lakh acres have already been freed, granting farmers permanent ownership rights, while another 1.9 lakh acres of ‘chukkala’ (dotted) lands are set to be released shortly.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has directed the Revenue Department to prioritise protecting land rights, noting that nearly 90 % of public grievances received during his visits relate to land issues.
Revenue Minister Anagani Satyaprasad has overseen reforms, including the repeal of the Land Titling Act and NALA provisions, introduction of the Land Grabbing Prohibition Act, and amendments to the ROR Act.
The government has also initiated Resurvey 2.0, involving farmers directly to ensure dispute-free records, and introduced blockchain-based digital security for land documents. Farmers can now digitally lock their records, preventing unauthorised mutations or registrations.
The government has removed restrictions on five categories of lands - pattas, ex-servicemen’s lands, freedom fighters’ lands, political sufferers’ lands, and pre-1954 assigned lands - as well as those wrongly listed due to survey number overlaps.
The process has been simplified: submission of any one of nine valid documents is sufficient for deletion from the prohibited list.
Additionally, 1.3 lakh acres of village service inam lands and 33,000 acres of conditional pattas have been regularised, allowing farmers to register or sell their holdings freely.
Assigned house sites given since the NTR era are being freed from restrictions. Urban land ceiling properties and regularised houses have also been given full rights in two years.
In towns, 10,000 houses of poor families have been regularised, with another 25,000 awaiting clearance. Long-standing village house sites without link documents are also being recognised.
The government has cleared long-pending cases across districts. In Tirupati’s Shettipalli village, 380 acres worth Rs 2,000 crore were handed over to 2,111 beneficiaries. In Sri Sathya Sai district’s Goppepalli, 305 acres pending for 20 years were resolved.
In Eluru, 142 acres were freed in a single day, while in Mudigubba’s Gunjepalli, 226 families received long-delayed house site rights.
