Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy has acknowledged administrative lapses that led to genuine property owners facing hardships under Section 22A of the Registration Act. The minister stated that the state government is taking immediate steps to rectify errors that wrongly included private properties in the prohibited list across Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Medchal-Malkajgiri and Sangareddy districts. In an interview with journalist Koride Mahesh, the minister explained that revenue officials forwarded revised lists to sub-registrar offices without proper verification, resulting in private lands already regularised by previous governments and plots cleared by courts being mistakenly included in the prohibited category.
The controversy traces back to September 2023, when the Telangana High Court directed the government to prepare a fresh list of prohibited properties and communicate it to sub-registrar offices. The minister explained that technical errors occurred during the online uploading process, as officials failed to upload government orders and memos relating to regularisations and allotments. In Greater Hyderabad, discrepancies between town survey land records conducted in 1969 and 1970 and the different ward and block numbering system adopted by GHMC caused additional complications. Mismatches between these two systems resulted in some private properties being incorrectly shown as government land.
Addressing concerns about registration stoppages, the minister confirmed that registrations in GHMC areas have resumed. Around 40 pending registrations were completed by Wednesday morning. He clarified that sub-registrar offices had been instructed to follow the latest lists forwarded by collectors, but the process of uploading relevant government orders and memos is now underway and should be completed soon. The minister firmly denied opposition allegations that new properties were added to the prohibited list, stating that not a single square yard of private land was newly added by the Congress government.
The state government has directed collectors in all four affected districts to rectify mistakes by the end of this month. Property owners with grievances can approach their concerned sub-registrar office, which has been instructed to accept applications and forward them to collectors. Officials have been directed to resolve genuine cases within two working days. If a property is genuinely government land and cannot be removed from the list, revenue authorities must provide the applicant with a written explanation within two days. The minister warned that action will be taken against officials who violate these instructions.
Regarding waqf land issues affecting several colonies around Hyderabad, the minister explained that waqf properties cannot be removed unilaterally by the revenue department or under the Bhu Bharati Act, as these lands are governed by a central Act. However, the government will examine such cases individually and make efforts to find solutions to genuine waqf land-related grievances. The minister dismissed allegations from BRS and BJP that the problem emerged after Bhu Bharati replaced Dharani, stating there is no connection between the prohibited list and the Bhu Bharati platform, which is solely a land record management and transaction system.
To prevent similar problems in future, a special committee has been constituted comprising the principal secretary revenue, inspector general of registration and stamps department, and other officials. The committee will examine applications on a daily basis over the next 15 days and take steps to clear genuine private properties. The minister emphasised that the committee will also work on creating a robust system to prevent such issues from recurring, while the government continues to protect genuine government properties and take action against land grabbers once the special investigation team submits its report on irregularities in Dharani land transactions.
