Section 22-A: 1 Crore Acres Or 3 Lakh Acres?

The and the opposition are engaged in a political debate over Telangana’s section 22-A land list. A debate over the extent of land covered by the section 22-A prohibited list. While the opposition parties have highlighted the figure of more than one crore acres, the chief minister A arguably puts the extent of genuinely disputed private lands at around 3.06 lakh acres.

Here’s the catch, the difference lies in between what each figure represents.

What is section 22-A?

Section 22-A of the Registration Act, 1980 provides for restrictions on registration of certain categories of properties. The prohibited list can include government land, forest land, assigned land, and other legally protected properties, as well as certain institutional or disputed properties.

Importantly,being on the 22-A list does not automatically mean private ownership has been cancelled. However, a property on the prohibited list generally cannot be registered for sale or other transaction through the normal process.

Where does the 1 crore figure come from?

Revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy told the telangana assembly that 1,02,05,250 acres were under the Section 22-A list. Of this, 96,36,777 acres were classified as government agricultural land, while 3,73,930 acres were classified as private agricultural land. The remaining area included non-agricultural and endowment lands.

The government has therefore argued that describing the entire one-crore-acre figure as private land blocked under Section 22-A would be misleading.

Then what is 3.06 lakh acres?

Revanth Reddy has cited around 3.06 lakh acres as the extent of genuinely disputed private land under the Section 22-A issue. His argument is that the broader prohibited-list figure includes large tracts of government and legally restricted land.

This means the two figures are referring to different categories within the larger land-record system.

Why are private properties being affected?

The controversy centres on cases where private properties have allegedly been included in the prohibited list due to errors in land records or data integration.

The government has acknowledged problems involving land records and said corrective measures are being taken. The official Bhu Bharati portal also provides a grievance mechanism for property owners seeking correction of inclusion in the prohibited-properties list.

The Opposition, meanwhile, has alleged irregularities in the inclusion and removal of properties and has demanded greater scrutiny of the process.

Why does it matter?

For the landowners, the issue goes beyond the political numbers. The numbers for them are just a part of another story. The properties that are wrongly placed on the list can face difficulties in sale, mortgage transactions or registrations. The bigger questions are how many private properties were wrongly included, how many have been cleared and how will the landowners be affected and how quickly will the affected landowners get their record corrected.

For now, 1.02 crore acres is the total extent cited for the Section 22-A prohibited list, while 3.06 lakh acres is the Chief Minister’s figure for genuinely disputed private land.

The figures describe different parts of the same larger land-record controversy and the impact on individual landowners remains at the centre of the debate.