AP Land Scam: Big Plot to Grab Thousands of Acres of Assigned Lands?
Land grabbing in the Andhra Pradesh Revenue Department appears to be taking new and alarming forms. Key political leaders have reportedly drawn up a major plan to grab thousands of acres of land in several important districts across the state. This has now triggered considerable concern within official circles. Officials say the coalition government appears to be resorting to practices that no previous government had attempted on such a scale. During the previous YSRCP government's tenure, a law was introduced granting full ownership rights to beneficiaries of assigned lands. There is now a growing discussion that the coalition government is using this provision as a basis to implement a major plan to acquire thousands of acres of land indiscriminately. For this purpose, the government has issued a memo in the name of the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration (CCLA). The most alarming aspect of this memo is that it provides an opportunity for Tahsildars to enter the names of beneficiaries in Webland even if their names are not currently recorded there, despite the lands having been assigned to them in the past.
In fact, Digitalization in the Revenue Department began several decades ago. Under this system, all categories of land are recorded in Webland. Despite this, the government's decision to allow the names of assigned land beneficiaries to be added if they are missing from Webland has raised serious questions. There is a discussion within Revenue Department circles that this provision has been introduced as part of a larger plan to facilitate widespread irregularities and take control of disputed lands. Although the memo states that prescribed rules and procedures must be followed while entering the details of assigned land beneficiaries whose names are missing from Webland, officials allege that the entire exercise is being carried out according to a pre-planned strategy. Officials have indicated that certain public representatives appear to have drawn up this plan by specifically targeting the erstwhile Visakhapatnam district, Vizianagaram, the two Godavari districts and Krishna district.
The recently issued memo states that beneficiaries whose names are missing from Webland should submit applications through the Swarna Gram-Swarna Ward programme. Officials point out that the names of assigned land beneficiaries had already been entered in Webland long ago to enable them to receive crop insurance and other government benefits. They suspect that the latest move is aimed at targeting disputed lands in key districts. A minister who is reportedly wielding considerable influence within the government, along with other key ministers, some MPs and certain extra-constitutional forces operating behind the scenes, are alleged to be involved in this exercise.
Even before the Jagan government introduced its decision to grant freehold rights to assigned lands, senior officials in the then government had reportedly acquired thousands of acres in the Visakhapatnam district. At that time, YSRCP leaders were also involved in similar activities in several districts. There are strong allegations that leaders of the present coalition government have also reached settlements with those who were involved in such activities during the previous regime. Now, they are reportedly looking for a new model to acquire the remaining lands in key districts once again. Highly reliable sources have revealed that a team of officials who played a key role during the Jagan government's tenure is also part of this exercise.
