Telangana is all set to usher in a new revenue regime with the launch of the ‘Dharani’ portal for online registration of properties from Thursday, officials said. Registration of properties, which was stopped across the state on September 8 to facilitate the transition, will resume on Thursday when Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will formally launch the portal at Mudu Chintalapalli village of Medchal-Malkajgiri district.
The much-awaited portal will facilitate computer-based registrations. Officials have completed uploading information on all landed properties onto the portal to facilitate smooth transactions of all revenue deals. The portal is billed as a one-stop solution for all matters related to land agricultural, residential and commercial in both urban and rural areas.
Developed by the Telangana State Technical Services Department, Dharani comprises two parts for agricultural lands and non-agricultural lands separately.
Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar believes that it will be a trendsetter in the country. He directed revenue officials to extend hassle-free registration and mutation (change of land title ownership) through Dharani to the citizens as envisioned by the Chief Minister. According to him, the purpose of the new system is to provide services in a simple, transparent, and in a speedy manner. He said that under the Dharani portal, registration and mutation will be completed immediately.
A state-level control room will be set up to address technical issues. Similarly, a district-level technical support team would resolve issues arising at the district level. Tahsildars, deputy tahsildars and sub-registrars were given training on the changed registration procedure for completing the mutations quickly and updating all the details online.
Demo trails of the portal were conducted to give hands on training and create awareness among the officials.
The portal is a part of the new Revenue Act, which came into force on September 22. The state Legislature during its session last month had passed four revenue Bills. The legislation paved the way for landmark reforms in the revenue department in the state by reducing human interface for land transactions.
As part of the reforms, the government scrapped the posts of village revenue officers (VROs) and village revenue assistants (VRAs). Records of rights relating to lands are now being maintained in electronic form in the Telangana Land Records Management System for ensuring hassle free revenue administration.
The new Revenue Act will remove discretionary powers vested with the officials at different levels and ensure transparent and corruption-free land dealings. This will also allow people to access records of agricultural and non-agricultural land online.
The new system will also help protect government, Endowment and Waqf lands as they will be put under 'auto lock' on the portal. This means registration of such lands will not be allowed.