Hyderabad: Former Minister T. Harish Rao on Saturday alleged large-scale irregularities in the Bhu Bharati portal and urged Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to order a Special Investigation Team to probe what he termed a Bhu Bharati scam.
Speaking at the BRS office, he said applicants paid full registration charges for agricultural land. He alleged that operators manipulated the edit option on the portal and diverted funds. According to him, the system credited only 10 per cent of the fee to the government. Intermediaries allegedly siphoned off the remaining 90 per cent.
He claimed the irregularities spread across 37 mandals. However, intelligence agencies failed to detect the operations, he said. He argued that this showed administrative failure by the Congress government. Therefore, he demanded an independent SIT to investigate the Bhu Bharati scam.
Harish escalates attack over Bhu Bharati scam
Harish Rao said authorities acted only after media reports exposed the issue. He alleged that officials arrested a few individuals to protect those at higher levels. He asked why the government did not initiate a comprehensive probe into the Bhu Bharati scam.
He further alleged that authorities deliberately marked vast tracts as prohibited land. Later, he said, officials cleared those lands after collecting illegal payments. He claimed that personnel at multiple levels took part in the process, including Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and mandal-level staff. The alleged fraud, he said, covered nearly one crore acres.
Citing High Court observations, he said the government still had not taken firm action. He demanded a white paper detailing the status of prohibited lands across Telangana.
The BRS MLA also criticised new rules introduced after the Congress assumed office. He said the government required land sellers to submit affidavits on bond paper. As a result, Sada Bainama transactions stalled, he claimed. He asserted that farmers had not completed a single Sada Bainama under the new rule. He urged the government to withdraw the bond paper condition and provide relief to 8.92 lakh farmers.
Referring to the Layout Regularisation Scheme, he said the Congress had promised free processing of LRS applications while in opposition. Instead, he alleged, authorities now collected fees. He claimed officials charged Rs.300 for issuing passbooks during registration. Even after six months, he said, authorities had not issued a single passbook.
Harish Rao reiterated that only a transparent SIT probe could fix accountability and prevent further irregularities in the Bhu Bharati portal.