Weeks before Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao gave a first hint about the impending comprehensive land re-survey on the Independence Day, Revenue Department already accomplished the cleaning up and updation of land records in Mulkalakalva village in Miryalaguda division.
The village was chosen for the pilot project to test the elaborate process of verification, updation of land records in the Webland by matching it with situation on ground.
After Mulkalakalva, government grew confident that it could be replicated across the State and finalised the time-lines.
Pilot project
Of total 1,262 acres in the village, the records were updated for 1,240 acres leaving the balance 22 acres that were locked in civil cases. Mulkalakalva has become the first village to be declared as having error free revenue records in Telangana.
Sources revealed that the exercise in the pilot village was initiated as early as July 5, when the Revenue Divisional Officer of Miryalaguda visited Arempula, Pallegudem and M.Venkatayapalem villages of Khammam district to observe the processes adopted for updating the village records.
The RDO soon after organised a day-long training to all the village revenue officers, computer operators, girdavars and tahsildars and handed them over the proforma of revenue profile. As it turned out, the pilot village brought forth all the scenarios that had to be dealt in the ensuing record cleaning and updation.
Webland details
Armed with the print outs of Webland pahanis given by the Tahsildar , the VROs set out to verify the extent of all the 258 Survey Numbers in relation to ‘Khasra’ Pahani. And in 34 survey numbers among them, the land extent had to be verified with reference to old Pahanis through desk work.
The records still showed 32 pattadars who were dead long since. The land of 10 dead pattadars was actually sold to others and in the case of 18 deceased pattadars, the mutation was not done in favour of their legal heirs. Those anomalies were rectified and entries updated in the Webland.
Another 269 entries were identified with no title nor possession in the Pahani. Reports were obtained from the VROs and the names were deleted after following due procedure and citing reasons for each case —double entries, existence of names of pattadars though they sold out their lands etc,. The names of 262 pattadars in actual possession of land made into the records.
Cases also came to light of those who had given land for public purpose but still continued as pattadars in the village records. Such land was recorded in the name of the public project to eliminate future manipulation.
Then there were discrepancies between the online (666) and manual (558) records. A door-to-door survey later, actual Khatas in the village found to be only 492 which were recorded in the Webland. Sub division numbers in the online and manual pahanis too were reconciled and rectified.
Then came the final and key part of the verification to place them in the public domain. A Gram Sabha was conducted and rectified pahanis were read out, calling for any objections and claims. The objections were disposed of after an inquiry. “The records were finally updated in the Webland and 1-B prints outs were distributed to all the Pattadars and their signatures obtained as a token of receipt,” sources said. At the end of the exercise, only four survey numbers in the village required actual physical land survey to determine the extents which led to separating the land that actually belonged to the Grama Kantam.
