Telangana Government Orders Detailed Probe into Dharani Land Records System
The Telangana State Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, has resolved to conduct a detailed inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the integrated land records management system Dharani, which was introduced by the previous government led by the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS). The decision was announced on Friday following a comprehensive discussion on the matter.
The government will constitute a special inquiry team to examine the operation of Dharani from the date the tender was issued on October 29, 2020, through the launch of the portal and its subsequent operations. This move comes in response to complaints that lakhs of acres of land were placed on the prohibited list while lands belonging to a favored few were cleared during the previous administration.
Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, briefing the media after the Cabinet meeting, stated, “We want to ascertain what the lapses were and who was behind the back-end of operations.” He emphasized that the inquiry would cover every detail of Dharani, including its operation and maintenance.
The government had earlier ordered a forensic audit by the Kerala Security Audit and Assurance Centre, which probed transactions in Siddipet and Medak districts on a pilot basis. That inquiry has now been extended to the remaining parts of the state. Additionally, the management of the Bhu Bharati portal, which replaced Dharani, has been entrusted to the National Informatics Centre (NIC). The software has been modified, reducing the number of modules from 32 to six.
