HYDERABAD: It has been three months now since the registration of nonagricultural properties has stopped in Telangana, leaving lakhs of real estate agents across the State feeling angry and frustrated. They are seething with rage and this was evident when they gathered at Dharna Chowk in Hyderabad on Wednesday to demand for the immediate resumption of registrations which were halted from September 8 onwards.
The protest was led by the Telangana State Realtors Association (TSRA). Speaking to Express, TSRA president Praveen Naragoni said there are nearly 12 lakh people involved in the real estate business across cities, towns and villages in Telangana for whom earnings from land transactions was the only source of income. “It is not just the realtors who have suffered.
There are many people in the State who depend on land as a source of money, especially at the time of their children’s marriage or to meet medical expenses. Apart from this, many small-time builders and traders of construction- related raw material have also suffered due to the slowdown in the construction sector, first because of Covid-19 and now due to the halting of registrations.”
Demanding immediate resumption of the registrations, the TSRA accused the Telangana government of cutting down huge revenues from the real estate sector by halting the registrations, as a pent-up demand exists due to the earlier slowdown.
Realtors angry over halt in registrations, LRS
TSRA general secretary P Rangarao said, “Before the service was stopped, around 30,000 registrations used to take place every day. Because of the government’s decision, lakhs of people are suffering and the State is also losing out on a lot of revenue.” This is not all. Even the government’s Layout Re gul a r i s a t i o n Scheme (LRS) has come under severe criticism from the realtors. The TSRA has accused it of introducing the scheme to help tainted ministers and politicians to regularise their illegal properties. The association members demanded that the LRS charges be reduced.
“What is the need for the government to levy such heavy charges for LRS. What did it do with the money earned earlier through the scheme? If it has just welfare of people on its mind, then the charges must be reduced and the LRS should be an ongoing process,” Rangarao said. With realtors numbering in lakhs across Telangana, the demand of resuming registrations gained a political tinge, with a few representatives of parties visiting the protesting realtors at Dharna Chowk. Meanwhile, the TSRA has threatened to take up a mass agitation across all districts if the government does not resume the registration soon.