Telangana introduces Bhu Bharati Bill

The Telangana Government has introduced Bhu Bharati (Record of Rights) Act 2024 replacing a similar act, Dharani, enacted during the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) regime. Introducing the bill in the Assembly on Wednesday, Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy said that the Act has corrected several anomalies in the old Act, which created a lot of confusion and hardship.

The Act will facilitate issuance of ‘Bhudhar Cards’ on the lines of Aadhaar Cards, making it easy to refer to the documents.

“We have not introduced the new bill just for the sake of changing the old one. We brainstormed with intellectuals and several stakeholders to make it a complete one addressing all the grievances,” he said.

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The Act will ensure all the land-owners get a passbook. It allows people to make an appeal if they find an error in the mutation. There will be a two-level mechanism in each district to take care of the disputes. It promises to find a solution without having to go to court.

Landowners will get a mutation certificate and passbook immediately after the registration process is over. The mutation certificate comes with a map to check against multiple registrations.

The new Act will also allow for the regularisation of the lands under ‘sada bainama’ (agricultural lands bought and sold without papers). 

“Landowners who don’t have any official paper to prove the ownership will get a passbook,” the Minister said, adding that the Dharani Act created a lot of confusion resulting in stalling of registrations across the State for over four months.