Ponguleti Defends 22-A Land List in Assembly, Cites Records and Revenue Growth

Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy defended the government's handling of the Section 22-A prohibited properties list in the Telangana Legislative Assembly, producing official records, registration data and video clips to rebut allegations levelled by the Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).

Opening a short discussion on Section 22-A of the Registrations Act, the Minister said the issue was not a recent development and that many disputed properties had featured on the prohibited list for years. He said the list had been inherited from the previous BRS government, which was now protesting against it.

According to the Minister, the total extent of land under the 22-A list fell from 1,02,52,690 acres when the Congress government took office on December 7, 2023, to 1,02,05,250 acres as on August 31, 2026 — a reduction of 47,440 acres. He noted that the system had existed since 2007 in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh and continued under the BRS government.

Mr. Ponguleti attributed errors in the online publication of 22-A data on December 3, 2025, to inconsistencies inherited from earlier land records, and said the government had corrected the mistakes after directions from the High Court. The court had asked the government to organise the list under categories A, B, C, D and E, following which the data was placed in the public domain. A call centre was set up to address grievances.

Rejecting the Opposition's claim that the 22-A issue had hurt registration revenue, the Minister said the State had recorded an increase of ₹1,359 crore during the first five months of the current financial year. Revenue from registrations rose from ₹6,216 crore between April and August 2025 to ₹7,575 crore in the corresponding period of 2026, he said.

The Minister also alleged that the previous BRS government had facilitated irregularities in land records through the Dharani portal, citing cases of alleged changes in the classification of assigned, Bhoodan and government lands in Siddipet, Medak and Rangareddy districts. He named BRS MLA Harish Rao's father, and BRS MLAs Palla Rajeshwar Reddy and Gangula Kamalakar among others as alleged illegal beneficiaries.

He cited the alleged removal of 4.32 acres from the 22-A list in Velikatta village of Kondapak mandal in August 2023, which he said benefited the family of Mr. Harish Rao's maternal uncle, Madhavaram Hanumantha Rao. He also referred to alleged irregularities involving 372.32 acres of Inam land in Sikindlapur, Medak district, saying the matter was pending before the Narsapur RDO after earlier orders were cancelled.

Further cases cited by the Minister included alleged transactions involving Bhoodan lands in Vattinagulapalli, disputed land at Shankar Hills, assigned land in Munaganoor and defence-related land at Thumkunta. In the Shankar Hills case, he alleged that prohibited lands had been removed from records and transactions facilitated during the previous regime.

He said registrations in the disputed lands had been blocked after the Congress government assumed office. The Assembly was later adjourned for Wednesday.