If the original beneficiaries are not alive, their legal heirs will get full rights. Decision to benefit 66,111 people holding 63,191.84 acres of land.
Published Jul 13, 2023 | 5:58 AM ⚊ Updated Jul 13, 2023 | 5:58 AM
AP CM Jagan Mohan Reddy during a Cabinet meeting. (File picture)
In a landmark move regarding assigned and low-lying lands, the Cabinet of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy Cabinet in Andhra Pradesh has decided to confer full rights to original “assigned” owners who have been holding such properties for 20 years.
If the original beneficiaries are not alive, their legal heirs will get full rights. The decision, made at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, 12 July, will benefit 66,111 people holding 63,191.84 acres of assigned lands.
“Assigned” land is government land that has been assigned/provided to individuals — either at nominal rates or for free — for some special reasons, such as under welfare schemes, to marginalised sections like Scheduled Castes (SCs) or Scheduled Tribes (STs) or to the landless poor.
In a majority of the cases, such lands are assigned for tilling so that it can generate some income to the allottees. However, the allottees do not have full-fledged rights over the land and cannot sell or mortgage it.
In Andhra Pradesh, alienation of assigned lands is prohibited under the AP Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act, 1977. While Section 3 declares all types of assigned land transfers ineffective, Section 5 makes it illegal to register any document confirming such transactions.
Now, the Cabinet has decided to provide full rights to the allottees of assigned lands. The current decision may be applied in the case of remaining thousands of acres of assigned lands in the state.
The Cabinet also gave its nod for the July welfare calendar and decided to do Bhoomi Puja on 24 July for the construction of 47,000 houses for the poor on 1,366 acres of the R-5 zone under the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA). It would involve an estimated expenditure of ₹5,000 crore.
The welfare calendar has fixed 18 July as the date for releasing Jagananna Thodu funds, 22 July for Nethanna Nestam, July 26 for Sunna Vaddi, and July 28 for Videshi Vidya Deevena.
Besides permitting the construction of burial grounds for the SC communities in 1,966 revenue villages, the Cabinet also decided to remove Inam lands from the prohibited list of Section 22-A, benefitting 1,13,000 people.
The Cabinet also waived loans provided to Dalits to purchase 16,213 acres under the Land Purchase Scheme before the bifurcation of the state in 2014. They will now have full rights over those lands.
Among other key decisions, the state Cabinet, at its three-and-a-half-hour meeting, has ratified the investment proposals approved by the State Investment Promotion Board (SIPB).
The government has also decided to fill vacancies in new and old medical colleges and hospitals in the state.
As many as 706 posts in new medical colleges and teaching hospitals, 247 posts in the Kurnool Cancer Hospital, and 94 CTBC posts in the 11 existing medical colleges will be filled.
It also gave the nod to fill 128 teaching and 68 non-teaching vacancies in polytechnic colleges and two senior posts in the Andhra Pradesh Maritime Board.
While enhancing the retirement age of professors in educational institutions such as the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University from 62 to 65, and of Endowment Department staff from 60 to 62, the Cabinet also allowed all temple Archakas, or priests, to continue in the profession as long as they can work.
The Cabinet decided to fill 11 vacancies in the newly-created Tadepalligudem Revenue Division and 13 deputy collector posts in the state.
It also ratified an MoU signed with the US educational agency, ETS, for training students in three to 10 classes for TOEFL certification and for the extension of the scheme to intermediate students.
Besides permitting the AP Maritime Board to raise necessary loans to build ports, the Cabinet has sanctioned ₹454 crore for the Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) package to 10,231 project-affected families and project-displaced families in 22 villages under Phase 2 and 3 of Gandikota Reservoir Project.
