TS govt issues gazette notification on Land Act

Hyderabad: With Governor ESL Narasimhan giving an accord to make amendments to the Telangana Rights in Lands and Pattadar Pass Books Act, 1971, the State government issued a gazette notification for carrying out the amendments with immediate effect. The Act was amended to cancel the existing pattadar passbooks and issue new ones based on findings of the recently concluded land records purification. The new passbooks will be tamper-proof and have complete land records reducing litigations.

As per the fresh amendment, the government would issue ‘smart pattadar passbooks’, which has better security features that would make it tamper-proof and last for several decades. It would also mandate mutation of lands, which should be completed within the prescribed period. The Act mandates the banks to grant agricultural loans based on electronic pattadar passbooks without insisting on physical copies of pattadar passbooks or title deeds.

The officials can access the Webland data maintained electronically for verification of any land records of the passbook holder. Further, any person who acquires the land rights through any means including inheritance or a court decree, must intimate the Tahsildar concerned within 30 days from the date of such acquisition. The Tahsildar has been bestowed with powers to correct any clerical errors at the request of the pattadar.

To protect Jagir lands, the government also made an amendment to the Act declaring that notwithstanding any court order or any other authority except for authority prescribed under the Hyderabad (Abolitions of Jagirs) Regulation, the title and ownership of Jagir lands shall never be transferred or never be deemed to have been transferred to any person. Revenue officials have been asked to record and maintain the Jagir lands as government lands in the revenue records.