TS likely to extend regularisation deadline

Hyderabad: The Telangana government is understood to have decided to extend the date for regularisation and transfer of rights of encroachments that had come up on government lands, which is set to end on Monday. The file pertaining to extension of date till this month-end is with the Chief Minister’s Office and fresh orders are likely to be issued on Monday.

The government issued GO No. 58 on December 30 regarding regularisation of lands (125 square yards or below) occupied by the poor. The very same day, another GO (59) was issued that gave different fee rates for encroachments up to 250 square yards, up to 500 square yards and above 500 square yards.

Of the 20 days time given to submit applications in government offices, nearly a week was lost due to festival holidays and others. As a result, nearly 96,000 applications were received from ten districts for regularisation under GO-58. However, only 1,191 applications were received for encroachments under other categories.

Revenue department officials pointed out the poor response from ‘haves’ was due to IT department worries. Many encroachments of government lands were reported from Shaikpet, Rajendernagar, Serilingampally, Qutbullapur and Uppal mandals in the State capital limits. Their applications for regularisation during the previous Congress government were rejected. Strangely, not many utilised this golden opportunity given by the Telangana government, Revenue officials said.

According to them, the short time given by the government and implications of paying heavy penal amounts in ‘white’, which would have brought them under IT department scanner resulted in most of them to give up the opportunity. Actually revenue department should have identified such cases and served notices on them before issuing the GO. This would have forced them to knock government doors invariably. Also giving a few additional time to fully pay the penal amount would have been a lot better, some felt.