Resurvey of land leaves Prakasam district farmers in a quandary

Some farmers complain that QR code-based smart title cards show shortfall of land and surnames are wrongly spelt

Fifty-year-old Mupparaju Sujatha from Marlapadu village was hoping that the his ordeals pertaining to tampering of land records would end when the Andhra Pradesh govrnment launched the Jagananna Saswatha Bhu Hakku Bhu Raksha scheme by storing digital records of land through a comprehensive resurvey undertaken during January last year.

But much to her dismay, the QR code-based smart title card issued by the government showed that the ‘Land Parcel Number’ in the Bhu Hakku Patram belonged to a group of eight persons. As a result, she is finding it difficult to seek crop loan from bank. She wants sub-division of the land parcel.

Similar is the case of Pamidi Venkataratnam who has been issued joint land title with six other persons in his village near Tangutur.

“We have been running from pillar to post to get the sub-division done, but to no avail,” they complain.

The last land survey was undertaken during the British regime in 1920. An attempt was made for a resurvey in 1972, but was aborted midway. Now, the resurvey has been undertaken on a pilot basis in 1,845 villages involving more than 8 lakh farmers in the State by deploying drones. The exercise has been completed in 27 revenue villages in Prakasam district so far, say official sources.

‘’Farmers will have no objection if there is a shortfall of a few cents. But in some cases, the shortfall is up to 30 cents,” says Samyukta Kisan Morcha Prakasam district convenor Ch. Ranga Rao.