The Opposition Congress on Monday demanded either setting up of a House committee or an inquiry by a sitting judge into the encroachment of government lands at Miyapur, large-scale land-grabbing by gangster Nayeem and taking back of assigned lands by the government, during a short discussion on purification and updation of land records in the Assembly.
On the other hand, All-India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) wanted the government to restore large chunks of endowments, waqf and assigned lands to the institutions either encroached upon by land grabbers or utilised by government for various purposes.
The ruling TRS, however, blamed the previous governments for giving birth to land sharks by not taking up land survey after Independence, allowing large-scale irregularities in land records. As Mr. Bhatti Vikramarka of Congress tried to find fault with the present government from the word go, he was interrupted, several times, by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao who stated that the Opposition member was trying to mislead the House by grossly deviating from the topic of short discussion. When Mr. Vikramarka pointed out that the government was taking back large extents of assigned land in the name of development needs, the Chief Minister asserted that it was during the 10-year rule of the Congress that huge land parcels were disposed.
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Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao said because of the inability of the Congress in the past to make any sincere attempt to cleanse land records, a large number of people were facing land-related problems.
Giving an example, he said Pradesh Congress Committee president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy’s father Purushottam Reddy had sold 1.31 acres of land at Thatipamula village in Thirumalagiri mandal of Suryapet district to Dharavath Hanmanth Naik as ‘sada bainama’ 15 years ago but the ongoing exercise on land records had found that it was still in the name of PCC chief’s father. It was transferred to the buyer after Mr. Uttam Kumar Reddy confirmed the sale.
Further, the Chief Minister stated that a House Committee was already looking into the assigned lands issue, including former PCC chief Ponnala Lakshmaiah’s ‘grabbing’ of such lands, and the report would be tabled in the House soon.
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Lands donated by philanthropists for schools, colleges and other public installations as bus stations, and electrical sub-stations were still in the name of original owners. Akbaruddin Owaisi of the Majlis wanted the government to table the report of S.K. Sinha Committee on encroachment of freedom-fighters’ lands at Patancheru and Ramachandrapuram and several other similar cases.
He asked the government to present a status report on regularisation of lands under GOs 58 and 59. E. Ravinder Reddy (TRS) also spoke.