12 land woes, one law: Land expert Sunil Kumar explains
Over the past year or so, there has been a lot of talk around Telangana government’s new land legislation, Bhu Bharati. Despite all the debates, arguments and counter-arguments, confusion still prevails. Chief architect of Bhu Bharati and land laws expert M. Sunil Kumar explains why Bhu Bharati legislation was needed and how Telangana’s new land law fixes Dharani’s failures.
Think of it as “one law for around 10-12 land woes being faced by people”, he says.
Bhu Bharati is Telangana government’s answer to the land issues/errors encountered by around 25 lakh people in the earlier Dharani system. It is almost like the State’s blueprint for “transparent, accountable, and equitable land rights”. Bhu Bharati isn’t just a new portal, but a new philosophy of land governance. Let’s look at how and why!
Imagine these situations –
- I’ve a plot of land but the records are not part of Dharani still – I’m unable to receive benefits like Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Bharosa because of this.
- I purchased land and my details are entered into Dharani but there are errors in spelling, extent or area of land, survey number, etc.
- I’ve got my ‘assigned land’ regularised under POT law but the details can’t be part of the records in Dharani portal.
- Once upon a time… I got the land acquired under Sada Bainama regularised and got the 13B certificate also but those details still can’t be entered into Dharani.
- I went to the RDO and got an ORC (Occupancy Right Certificate) for my Inam land (given as a gift/grant by a Nizam or a Jagirdar) but those details are not being entered into Dharani and I’m not getting a passbook either.
- We are four brothers and a sister who inherited land from grandparents/ parents — the pattadar passed away and the name in passbook/patta has to be changed. Two of my brothers are well-settled, one in Mumbai and one in Dubai. My sister doesn’t want a share. My brother and I have been cultivating the land here – but till everyone gives a joint statement, we can’t even file an application for a name change in Dharani.
- I’ve purchased an agricultural land and the registration has been done wrongly (in the wrong name or with errors).
- After buying a piece of land, it’s not mutated/transferred and the Dharani portal still has details of the previous owner. Since it’s continuing, the owner sold it again to someone else. There’s no way I can rectify the error in Dharani, except approaching the Civil Court.
The doors are now open: Breathing new life into land rights
There are around 10-12 issues like these where a person has documents to show that s/he is the owner but their details don’t find a place in Dharani. In the earlier Dharani system, there was no provision to solve any of these land-related issues, shared land laws expert Sunil Kumar.
“It’s like closing all the doors and windows in the room and then complaining there’s no air and we can’t breathe. Now, all the doors and windows, and even ventilators, are left open, so it’s up to us to breathe fresh air,” said Sunil.
“Dharani was like the former scenario, while Bhu Bharati mirrors the latter. The situation is also akin to locking all the doors quite securely to ensure there’s no theft or safety issue, but then the key is lost/thrown away – now, except to break the lock and replace the lock and key, there’s no option,” Kumar added further.
Locked out of your own lands? How Bhu Bharati unlocks rights
As a part of the 5-member expert committee, Sunil Kumar and his team helped convert Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s vision for Bhu Bharati into reality.
Before drafting the guidelines for the Bhu Bharati legislation, which aimed to replace the previous Dharani system, the committee has carefully studied revenue laws of 18 States, besides three earlier land laws (RoRs) that affected land rights of people in the State – The Telangana Record of Rights in Land and Pattadar Pass Books Act, 1971, The Andhra Pradesh Rights in Land and Pattadar Pass Books Rules, 1989, and The Telangana Rights in Land and Pattadar Pass Books Act, 2020.
Elaborating on the above land issues, the chief architect of the Bhu Bharati Act shared that Section 8 of the new Bhu Bharati Act tackles 12 kinds of document/land-related issues. Sunil says that these disputes can be brought to RDO’s notice, who, in turn, can inquire into the claim/appeal and give rights to the person based on the findings.
Reasons behind framing the Bhu Bharati Act
“Dharani is a Record of Rights and if the details of entitlement aren’t entered into the portal, farmers wouldn’t have any proof to show to enjoy those rights. Dharani comes under the ROR Act 2020 but nobody has any authority to make changes in the portal – the only solution is to approach the Civil Court,” shared Sunil.
Applications are pending for over 9.24 lakh acres of land, which was earlier bought under Sada Bainama and have no pattas, as there’s no provision in Dharani to sort it out. So, the High Court issued a stay order on those applications.
Based on their study of various revenue laws across the country, the expert committee suggested 20-30 changes. But, instead of making so many changes in the Dharani (ROR Act 2020) law, it’s best to bring another law in its place, said Sunil. “It’s not just about solutions for old issues; there should be forethought on a lot of new concepts/issues that may crop up in this modern era and should have provision under the law, which was hitherto not possible,” he added.
Sunil Kumar also explained, with examples, how there is no provision in law for various issues. Sample these few:
- House plots too need a record
- Bhu Kamata should have a special number
- The role of Civil Court needs to have clarity
Bhu Bharati is the first major step towards land reforms, he asserted, and “if the law is expanded to focus on the rest of the issues (like those mentioned above), a complete change and improvement are possible”.