Hans News Service Vijayawada

ChiefMinister N Chandrababu Naidu has rolled out a sweeping set of land and revenue reforms, setting a March 2027 deadline to complete the State-wide ‘Re-survey 2.0’ and directing the issuance of 1.12 crore new Pattadar passbooks.

At a review meeting of the revenue department held at the Secretariat on Wednesday, the Chief Minister said the exercise aims to resolve land disputes and restore clarity in ownership records, which he alleged had escalated under the previous government’s re-survey drive.

So far, surveys have been completed in 6,976 villages, with distribution of 22.79 lakh passbooks already underway in 5,717 villages. Naidu directed that the remaining 9 lakh passbooks in 1,259 surveyed villages be distributed by July, and set a target to complete both the survey and passbook issuance entirely by March next year. He further instructed officials to distribute 80 lakh passbooks between July and March, stressing zero-error execution through strict monthly targets.

In a major policy shift, the CM approved the removal of 1.37 lakh acres of ‘Village Service Inam’ lands from the Section 22-A prohibited list, along with an additional 1 lakh acres under other inam categories. He directed the drafting of new legislation to formalize the move, stating that previous efforts had stalled due to inaction.

Naidu also announced that houses allotted under government schemes prior to 2016 will now be eligible for full property registration. The decision is expected to benefit around 75 lakh families, enabling them to legally sell, transfer, or mortgage their properties- effectively converting them into formal economic assets.

Further, the government plans to confer full ownership rights on 9.25 lakh acres out of 13.59 lakh acres currently classified under freehold categories.

Emphasizing transparency and security, the CM ordered complete digitization of land records, with copies to be delivered directly to landowners via mobile phones. He also proposed integrating blockchain technology after e-KYC verification, allowing property owners to activate a “record-locking” system that prevents unauthorized transactions without their consent. Chief secretary G Sai Prasad and revenue minister A Satya Prasad attended the meeting.