Hyderabad, Sep 7 In a major reform aimed at streamlining the revenue system, the Telangana government has decided to scrap the posts of Village Revenue Officers (VROs).
The Telangana Abolition of Village Revenue Officers Bill, 2020 will be tabled in Assembly during the ongoing session, which began on Monday.
This Bill was approved by the state Cabinet at a meeting presided over by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekha Rao on Monday night.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government says its move is aimed at making the revenue system in the state transparent and corruption-free.
Analysts say this is the biggest reform in land administration since the hereditary Patel-Patwari system was abolished by Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao in 1985 in the then undivided Andhra Pradesh.
KCR, as the Chief Minister had already hinted at scrapping the VRO system, blaming it for corruption in the land administration at village level. He even remarked that the VRO system proved worse than the Patel-Patwari system.
Hours before the Cabinet approved the Bill, all VROs were asked to submit their records to the office of their respective tehsildars.
The government also issued an order on Monday, suspending registration activity from Tuesday until further orders. However, registration of will deeds, administration of marriages and franking services will continue as usual.
The TRS government wants to bring a new revenue system to provide quality services to citizens for registration of property documents.
To ensure this, the government is reportedly planning to reduce human interface in land transactions.
It may involve blockchain technology that will automatically update land records and mutations immediately. A pilot project for the same is being run by the Revenue Department in coordination with the Information Technology and Electronics Department in Shamshabad since 2018.
Meanwhile, the state Cabinet has also approved the Telangana Rights in Land and Pattadar Pass Books Bill, the Telangana Municipal Act 2019 Amendment Bill, the Panchayat Raj and Rural Development-Gram Panchayats-Transfer of non-Agriculture Properties Act-2018 Amendment Bill, the Telangana GST Act-2017 Amendment Bill, the Telangana Private Universities Act Amendment Ordinance, the Telangana Disaster and Public Health Emergency Ordinance and the Telangana Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Bill.
All the Bills will be tabled during the current session which will last till September 28.
The government on Monday said, if necessary, the session will be extended by a few days.
( With inputs from IANS )
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