The new Dharani draft bill, officially named The Telangana Record of Rights Bill, 2024, aims to simplify the application process, reduce the number of modules, and establish a robust appellate mechanism within the revenue department. This overhaul comes in response to widespread criticism of the old Dharani Act and its portal, which became a major political issue before the assembly elections. The Congress party had pledged to replace it with a more efficient system to ease land-related processes.

The old Dharani portal, introduced by the previous BRS government, featured 33 modules for managing land records and titles. However, many users found this system overly complicated, with some modules rejecting applications for being submitted through the wrong module. This often left applicants, especially the illiterate, without guidance on choosing the correct module.

Under the new draft bill, a single general window will accept all applications, with system operators responsible for directing them to the appropriate module. The number of modules has been reduced from 33 to 10, significantly streamlining the process.

Another significant change is the provision for easier corrections. The previous Dharani law lacked mechanisms for revenue authorities to correct records, forcing people to seek legal recourse for even minor issues. The new bill introduces a robust appellate mechanism within the revenue department: the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) will act as an appellate authority over tahsildar decisions, an additional collector will review the RDO?s decisions, and the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration (CCLA) will serve as the revision authority. This effectively reinstates the revenue courts abolished by the BRS? Dharani 2020.

The committee behind the new bill has also addressed the issue of succession. "Succession by mere claims is no longer possible," a committee member told the source. "We have proposed to invite objections before conferring property rights through succession."

The committee recommends testing the new bill at the grassroots level, gathering feedback from farmers and other stakeholders. District collectors will assist in this process. It is expected to take about three months to finalise the bill into an act after incorporating public feedback.

(Source: ET)