Section 22-A a legacy issue, no undue increase in prohibited lands: Telangana minister Ponguleti

HYDERABAD: Seeking to dispel what he called “falsehoods” being spread by the Opposition over lands on the prohibited list under Section 22-A of the Registration Act, minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy on Saturday described the issue as a legacy problem and questioned what the BRS had done during its nine-and-a-half-year tenure.

Participating in a discussion in the Assembly on Section 22-A lands, Srinivasa Reddy cited figures to contend that there had been no undue increase in the extent of land under the prohibited list since the Congress government assumed office.

“On the date the Congress came to power, 96,61,026 acres were under Section 22-A. This included 42,53,532 acres of forest land, 24,63,940 acres of assigned land and 29,35,554 acres of other government land, including shikam land. Private lands accounted for 3,95,852 acres, taking the total extent in the prohibited list to 1,02,52,690 acres. As of August 30, 2026, the total had come down to 1,02,05,250 acres, with 96,36,777 acres of government land and 3,73,980 acres of private land under the list. This represented a reduction of 47,440 acres,” he said.

Srinivasa Reddy attributed the reduction to the removal of private lands from the prohibited list after revenue authorities were given the power to do so. He said there were records to track such removals, but no verifiable paper trail for changes made to the list during the BRS government.

He alleged that BRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao, as chief minister, took unilateral decisions and abolished revenue administration at the field level by removing Village Revenue Assistants and Village Administrative Officers without making alternative arrangements.

“During KCR’s first term, the revenue minister was a rubber stamp and during the second term, KCR himself held the portfolio. This affected the poor and led to many people ending their lives. Dharani was brought in, but the rules for its implementation were delayed for two-and-a-half years. The site itself was restrictive and prevented others from accessing the records, facilitating mismanagement from the backend,” he said.

We will solve all land issues in 18 months: Minister

“People could not sell their lands when they needed money for education, social or health reasons. Only those with connections could get their lands cleared. The portal was managed by Terracis, a bankrupt foreign company,” Srinivasa Reddy said.

He alleged that changes to land ownership had been made surreptitiously whenever the previous government wanted them changed. A forensic audit by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by Charu Sinha, was under way and its report would be tabled in the Assembly as soon as it was ready, he said.

Explaining the corrective measures taken by the Congress government, Srinivasa Reddy said teams had been sent to 18 states to study their land administration systems and inputs had also been sought from the public, unlike the unilateral approach adopted by KCR.

He said the Dharani portal had been renamed Bhu Bharathi and handed over to the National Informatics Centre (NIC), run by the Union government. The rules for Bhu Bharathi were framed within three months, he said, adding that a comprehensive survey of land was the only way to resolve the problems.

“A pilot project is currently under way in 70 villages in every district. This is happening across 32 districts, except Hyderabad. I myself visited five erstwhile districts along with surveyors, MROs, CCLA and other revenue officials. We will solve all land-related problems in the next one-and-a-half years,” he said.

Srinivasa Reddy said a survey of 14,000 acres in 13 villages in the Nagarjunasagar area had revealed that passbooks covering 4,000 acres were bogus.

The government had appointed licensed surveyors after providing them three months of training to assist with the survey, he said. He added that the surveyors had recently been instigated to stage a demonstration in front of the Assembly demanding jobs, even though they had been clearly told that they were not being appointed to permanent posts.

“Attempts to misuse the system are still being made. Recently, attempts were made to make changes in the Bhu Bharathi portal to change the ownership of assigned lands. I appeal to them to desist from such acts,” he said.

Tracing the history of Section 22-A, Srinivasa Reddy said the provision was introduced in 1999 after Ghatkesar Railway Station was registered, with the aim of protecting government, waqf and endowment lands.

In accordance with high court directions, GO 121 was issued, but rules were not framed until 2017, he said, alleging that the government at the time had failed to implement the court’s directions.

Between 2017 and 2025, as many as 28,611 cases seeking relief from Section 22-A were filed in the high court, Srinivasa Reddy said. The court subsequently directed the government to make the list of prohibited lands public. The list was placed in the public domain on December 3, 2025, he said.

“The government did not hide anything. We accepted that mistakes were made while uploading the data. We took corrective measures on a war footing as directed by the chief minister,” Srinivasa Reddy said.

He said the number of calls received on the toll-free number had fallen from 117 on August 28 to 56 on September 7, indicating that the issue was being addressed.

Srinivasa Reddy also rejected the Opposition’s claim that the controversy had affected the government’s revenue from registrations. Income from April to August in 2025-26 stood at `6,216 crore, while it increased to `7,575 crore during the same period in 2026-27, an increase of `1,359 crore, he said.

“The Opposition raised a hue and cry after we took corrective measures,” Srinivasa Reddy said.

On the controversy surrounding allegations made by R&B Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, Srinivasa Reddy said houses constructed on assigned lands finding their way into the prohibited list was a problem common to mandal and district headquarters and was not confined to Bhuvanagiri.

He also accused Harish Rao of misusing Dharani to benefit his father-in-law. “Assigned land in Velikatta village, Kondapaka mandal and Siddipet district was changed into his name to benefit him,” Srinivasa Reddy alleged.

Blaming the BRS for corruption, Srinivasa Reddy questioned how the party, despite being a regional party, had accumulated funds to the tune of `1,400 crore. Referring to BJP leader Alleti Maheshwar Reddy, he appealed to leaders of other parties not to fall into the BRS’s “trap”.

He alleged that the BRS and BJP were on the same page in spreading what he called lies over the issue. Following Srinivasa Reddy’s statement, the Assembly was adjourned to September 16.