The Telangana government has directed district collectors to dispose of all pending applications under GO No. 59 within one month, potentially bringing relief to thousands of applicants whose requests to regularise residential holdings have remained unresolved for nearly a decade.
Revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy issued the direction during a review meeting at the state Secretariat on Friday. Officials have been told to speed up scrutiny of applications involving encroachments on government land measuring more than 80 square yards and up to 500 square yards, while ensuring that approvals are issued only after detailed verification.
The verification process will cover applicants’ eligibility, land records, the extent of land proposed for regularisation and other relevant details. The government has also instructed officials to examine each case for irregularities or violations. Cases in which violations are detected will be reviewed under the existing legal framework and appropriate action will be taken, the minister said.
GO 59 provides for regularisation of eligible government-land encroachments on which residential structures have been built, subject to payment of a prescribed penalty. A related order, GO 58, provides free regularisation for eligible encroachments of up to 80 square yards belonging to poor households.
Thousands of GO 59 applications have remained pending before district collectors for years. According to the government’s account, many applicants have had to make repeated visits to government offices while waiting for decisions on their cases. The latest instruction follows Memo No. 48030, issued in line with earlier government orders numbered 14, 22, 29 and 41, directing collectors to accelerate scrutiny and disposal.
The order is also linked to the government’s broader effort to resolve land and registration disputes involving properties listed under Section 22-A. Section 22-A restrictions can prevent registration of properties treated as prohibited or disputed in government records, creating difficulties for owners seeking to sell, transfer or formalise their holdings.
Srinivas Reddy said the decision followed an assurance made by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy in the Legislative Assembly on September 16 regarding Section 22-A properties. The minister described the GO 59 direction as the seventh measure issued by the government to address long-pending land and registration-related problems.
The government has said it is examining 10 to 12 categories of issues connected with Section 22-A properties. A high-level committee was constituted within 24 hours of the Chief Minister’s Assembly announcement, according to the minister. Since then, the government has issued clarifications concerning GO 118 and GO 76, permitted registration of houses, plots and flats approved by GHMC, HMDA, DTCP and municipal authorities even when they appeared under Section 22-A, and initiated action on pending urban land ceiling applications.
The administration has also addressed cases involving patta lands where non-agricultural land conversion procedures remained incomplete. Applications connected to court disputes will be decided strictly according to judicial directions, the minister said. District collectors are now expected to complete the verification and disposal of pending GO 59 applications within the one-month deadline set by the government.
