AP’s Land Reform Push: New Passbooks, Resurvey and Blockchain Security

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said the NDA coalition government was committed to protecting people’s land ownership rights and resolving long-pending land disputes that have remained unsettled for decades. He said governance must reach people directly and government programmes should help improve their quality of life.

Speaking at the ‘Mee Bhoomi–Mee Hakku’ (Your Land–Your Right) programme at Machavaram in Dr B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema district on Wednesday, Naidu said land and water were crucial to both livelihoods and development. “If water is life, land is livelihood,” he said, adding that the government was giving priority to both.

Naidu said more than 1,000 TMC of Godavari water had flowed into the sea despite the state facing the impact of El Niño. Better utilisation of the river’s water, he said, could have significantly benefited farmers and the wider population.

Highlighting the government’s welfare initiatives, Naidu said he personally interacts with beneficiaries during the monthly ‘Pedala Sevalo’ pension distribution programme. He said the Public-Private-People Partnership (P4) model was being promoted to create wealth, improve living standards and enable people to live with dignity. The government is also pursuing the ‘Swachha Andhra–Swarna Andhra’ programme to make the state cleaner and encourage waste-to-wealth initiatives and a circular economy.

On land administration, Naidu accused the previous YSRCP government of manipulating and destroying land records and introducing the Land Titling Act in a manner that could threaten people’s property rights. The NDA government repealed the Act after coming to power, he said. A statewide land resurvey is now underway, while new pattadar passbooks carrying the Rajamudra feature safeguards such as e-KYC, QR codes and blockchain technology.

Naidu said the auto-mutation system had benefited around 1.2 lakh families, while 16 lakh acres had been freed from various restrictions. He said 224 long-pending land disputes had been resolved, including one that had continued for 120 years. Action involving 56.37 acres had also benefited 1,410 people.

The Chief Minister also criticised the previous government over Polavaram, the Veligonda project, APPSC Group-1 examinations, liquor policy and teacher recruitment. He alleged administrative failures and irregularities across several areas, while defending his government’s handling of the Mega DSC recruitment process.

Reiterating his focus on welfare and development, Naidu said the government was seeking additional central funds to accelerate Polavaram and Amaravati works. He also announced that a Rs 240-crore grid modernisation project was being undertaken in Konaseema to strengthen three-phase power supply.