Heralding new land reforms-OxBig News Network

The N. Chandrababu Naidu government has introduced a series of land reforms to overhaul land administration in Andhra Pradesh. These include enacting new laws and amending existing ones, implementing policy changes, introducing administrative modifications to streamline the management of land records, and addressing land disputes. The government claims that these measures are necessary to protect property rights, ensure transparency, and make land governance more efficient.

One major legislative change was the repeal of the Andhra Pradesh Land Titling Act, 2024. The government argued that the previous law, introduced by the YSRCP government, had removed the role of civil courts in land disputes, leaving landowners at the discretion of Title Registration Officers, who lacked the necessary legal expertise. Another reform was the enactment of the Andhra Pradesh Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 2024, which prescribes imprisonment ranging from 10 to 14 years along with penalties equivalent to the value of the grabbed property. This law also provides for the establishment of special courts to handle land-grabbing cases.

In the ongoing Budget Session, the government has proposed amendments to the Andhra Pradesh Rights in Land and Pattadar Pass Books Act, 1971. The previous amendment, made by the YSRCP government in 2022, had designated the District Revenue Officer as the appellate authority for grievances related to record of rights. The Naidu government, however, contends that this change led to delays and accessibility issues and has proposed to restore the earlier system where Sub Collectors or Revenue Divisional Officers act as the appellate authority.

Several administrative reforms have also been introduced to modernise land registration. For instance, Sub-Registrars will now be placed at the same level as visitors instead of sitting at elevated positions. This symbolises a shift towards citizen-friendly governance. The government is also planning to allow citizens to book slots in advance for document registration at Sub-Registrar Offices. In addition, plans are under way to introduce an “anywhere registration” facility that will enable land transactions to be conducted from any location using advanced technology.

The government has also undertaken a comprehensive review of freehold lands and the 22-A list, which restricts the sale of certain government-assigned lands. The YSRCP government had previously amended the Andhra Pradesh Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act, 1977, granting alienable rights to original assignees of government-allotted land. This amendment applied to agricultural lands assigned over 20 years ago and house sites assigned over 10 years ago. The Naidu government has re-verified these freehold land records and identified deviations in about 32% of the acres registered as freehold. Further irregularities were noted in more than 5 lakh acres out of a total of 13.5 lakh acres converted to freehold. District Collectors have been instructed to investigate these deviations and take necessary action.

As part of a comprehensive land resurvey initiative, the government has updated guidelines and adopted advanced technology. While the YSRCP government had earlier launched a similar programme, the YSR Jagananna Shaswata Bhu Hakku Mariyu Bhu Raksha Padhakam, the NDA government has introduced modifications. It has also removed former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s photograph from Pattadar Passbooks and survey stones. And it has launched an inquiry into alleged irregularities in land allocations under housing schemes during the previous administration.

In the last nine months, the government has addressed 2.74 lakh resurvey-related grievances from 6,688 villages. In addition, 2.12 lakh revenue-related grievances received through the recently conducted Revenue Sadassulu programme have been resolved. As part of this initiative, officials visited villages to engage with people and resolve land-related issues at the grassroots level.

To institutionalise these reforms, the State government constituted a Group of Ministers on March 5, chaired by Revenue Minister Anagani Satya Prasad. While the government maintains that all these measures are intended to rectify past irregularities and modernise the system, their long-term impact on property rights and dispute resolution remains to be seen.