HYDERABAD: The last vestiges of the British Raj seem set to disappear, as Chief Minister and TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday hinted that the Revenue department would be completely revamped in the coming months, and district collectors would be renamed as ‘district administrative officers’.
“The revenue department need not be called as such. There is no collection of revenue now. We are not collecting land tax or water cess,” the chief minister said while addressing an election rally at Mahabubabad.
He added that the name ‘district collector’ was misleading. “Those who collect revenue are called collectors. There is no revenue collection now. We are contemplating calling the district collector ‘district administrative officer’ (Zilla Paripalana Adhikari).”
Reiterating that the government would give “conclusive titles” to landlords, the chief minister promised: “I will spend three-to-four days in each district after the polls. I will come with all the ministers and a battery of officials headed by the chief secretary. We will resolve all land-related problems and disputes. Be it podu land, agricultural land, or any other kind of land, the records and titles should be clear.” Once individual farmers get “conclusive titles”, the government would have to pay the penalty for disputes over the land, Rao said, adding that a massive land-survey would be conducted.
On national politics, K Chandrasekhar Rao alleged Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were calling each other “thieves” to confuse voters.
He said India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru gave the slogan ‘Daridya Narayana’, and Indira Gandhi gave the slogan ‘Garibi Hatao’. Now, after his great-grandfather and grandmother, Rahul Gandhi too was talking about the poor, Rao said, accusing the Congress of being inefficient in eliminating poverty.
Mahabubabad TRS candidate Maloth Kavitha said she would fight against the Central government for the setting up of a Bayyaram steel factory.