The agricultural land registration and mutation portal, formerly Dharani, has been renamed ‘Bhu Bharati.’ Before and after the assembly elections, the Chief Minister and ministers announced that Dharani would be abolished and replaced with Bhu Mata.
In 2004, during the tenure of the UPA government at the center, a program called Bhu Bharati was launched nationwide. A Bhu Bharati survey was conducted in the state as a pilot project in the joint Nizamabad district. This led to the establishment of the Record of Rights in Land Act-2024 (RoR), named ‘Telangana Bhu Bharati.’
The Dharani portal became operational in the state on November 2, 2020. Before that, the Stamps and Registrations Department handled agricultural land registrations. After registration, land buyers applied for changes in land ownership rights, known as mutation, in the revenue records. The previous government opted for this system to minimize corruption.
Under the new system, Tahsildars were given the powers of joint sub-registrars, consolidating agricultural land registrations and mutations in the Tahsildar’s office. Despite these changes, the simultaneous registration and mutation process has remained unchanged.
Six Modules Simplified: Previously, the portal had 33 modules for applying on various land issues, each serving a specific purpose.
Many farmers faced difficulties due to a lack of technological understanding, often using the wrong modules, which resulted in rejections.
This led to repeated expenses of approximately ₹1,200 for each application. The government has simplified this by reducing the number of modules to six.
SMS Notifications: Applicants will now receive SMS notifications on their phone numbers once they apply for admission to the portal. There will also be a tracking system to monitor the progress of applications.
Previously, not all land records were visible on the portal, allowing information to be hidden from public view. With the new system, there will be arrangements for anyone, anywhere, to access land details. These changes will take effect once the Bhu Bharati Bill, introduced in the Assembly on Wednesday, becomes law.
Revised PAHANI Columns: The government has reinstated PAHANI columns to capture comprehensive information about agricultural lands.
Before 2020, PAHANI included 32 columns detailing various aspects such as the landowner’s name, land account, survey number, patta holder, and whether the land was government land or privately owned.
However, the previous government had removed most of these details, implementing a PAHANI that only recorded the landowner’s name.
The Dharani Committee identified numerous issues arising from the lack of accessible land details and reported these to the government. As a result, the government has decided to create a new PAHANI with 11 columns to meet current needs.