Published Aug 19, 2026 | 9:12 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 19, 2026 | 9:12 PM
Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy and BRS MLA Harish Rao
Synopsis: Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy admitted the government’s mistake in the irregularities in the Section 22A prohibited property list and attributed it to the government officials who failed to do proper verification of survey numbers. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy held a review meeting on Tuesday night and assured property owners that the issue will be fixed. Meanwhile, BRS leaders called for Ponguleti’s resignation and launched a Legal Cell to help genuine victims.
Chief Minister Anumula Revanth Reddy held an emergency meeting with Minister for Revenue, Housing, Information and Public Relations Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy, and revenue department officials during the late hours of Tuesday, 18 August, to review the irregularities arising from the Section 22A Prohibited Property List.
The meeting came a day after Minister Ponguleti admitted that revenue officials had made mistakes that landed thousands of privately owned lands on the state’s list of prohibited properties, and apologised for the hardship caused.
Several owners have been lining up outside sub-registrar and MRO offices in the past few weeks as they couldn’t register or sell their properties. Under Section 22A of the Registration Act, sub-registrars can refuse or reject land transactions if the survey numbers appear on the prohibited list.
In April 2026, revenue authorities were directed to update the list of prohibited lands in the official records. According to the minister, the confusion stemmed from how officials handled partial land transactions. An entire survey number was marked as government property even when only part of it belonged to the government, trapping the remaining private land on the prohibited list.
Ponguleti blamed revenue officials for the irregularities as they had forwarded the prohibited properties list to sub-registrars without verifying it or weeding out legitimately owned patta lands.
He said the Telangana High Court has directed the government to send a corrected list to the registration department to help dispose of roughly 6,000 pending cases filed by owners challenging the inclusion of their properties in the list. The government is now uploading the orders, proceedings, and memos needed to remove wrongly listed parcels.
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The state government announced that it has set up a high-level committee to tackle disputes stemming from Section 22A. The committee has been directed to clear all pending applications within 15 days.
The Revenue Minister held multiple meetings last week with collectors, additional collectors, RDOs, and registration officials from Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Sangareddy, and Medchal-Malkajgiri. These four districts are part of the Core Urban Economy Region (CURE) and were hit hardest by the problem.
Of 757 applications for regularisation received statewide, Medchal-Malkajgiri accounts for 511, followed by 146 from Rangareddy, 49 from Hyderabad, and 38 from Sangareddy.
Around 300 to 320 Medchal cases relate to urban land ceiling disputes, and the minister said most private owners’ claims are genuine. He said similar complaints have also surfaced in Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills.
We’ve asked the registration department to open additional slots and extend working hours to clear the backlog of stalled registrations. A toll-free number, 1800-599-4788, has been activated for complaints, and officials have promised a response within three days. The minister said registration fees collected on applications that could not be processed will be refunded.
Ponguleti said the state would continue to safeguard genuine government land even as it works through the corrections.
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At Tuesday’s meeting, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy told officials that if a 22A-listed plot already has an online slot booked, they must verify it within two days and register it right away if it is confirmed private land.
The district Collectors were instructed to scrutinise every 22A entry in their jurisdiction and prepare an accurate, error-free list to close the matter for good.
He asked people not to panic over their land rights and said the government would not let a dispute arise over ‘even a single inch’ of private property. He also warned landowners against brokers or intermediaries offering to sort out 22A issues.
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Addressing a protest in Malkajgiri demanding the 22A list be scrapped, BRS MLA and former minister T Harish Rao demanded Ponguleti’s resignation.
He argued on Tuesday that the government could not pin a collective decision on its officials.
Rao alleged that HMDA and HUDA lands, along with parcels exempted through thousands of government orders in Rangareddy and Medchal, had also been included on the list. He accused the government of using 22A to tighten its hold over the two districts.
As an example, he cited a Tilaknagar homeowner who learned days before a scheduled move abroad that his 450-square-yard house was on the list when he visited the sub-registrar’s office to sell it. Some officials, Rao said, demanded up to 30 per cent of a plot, along with development rights, in exchange for its removal. He sought a white paper listing every addition and deletion, and said BRS would raise the issue in the Assembly.
BRS MLC Dasoju Sravan said an apology was no substitute for accountability. He questioned who had cleared the prohibited property lists and why the Chief Minister had stayed silent. He demanded a Vigilance and ACB inquiry to fix criminal responsibility.
On 19 August, BRS announced the launch of a Legal Cell to help landowners affected by the 22A restrictions. The party said the Cell would operate from Telangana Bhavan and offer free assistance to remove genuine properties from the list.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
