AP govt amends Assigned Lands Act amidst opposition uproar

Hyderabad, Dec 20 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh government today adopted a Bill for amending the Andhra Pradesh Assigned Lands (prohibition of transfer) Act 1977, amidst uproar from the opposition parties in the House.

The opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Telangana Rastra Samithi (TRS) and CPM had opposed the amendment. The oppsition party MLAs trooped into the well, demanding withdrawl of the amendment of the Act while the ruling party MLAs supported the Bill, introduced by the State Revenue Minister D Prasad Rao.

Introducing the Bill in the House, Mr Rao said the objective of the Bill was to empower the government to notify certain areas where the government could resume the assigned lands and utilize them for public purpose such as betterment of weaker sections - housing, public utilites and infrastructure development.

Participating in the discussion on the Bill, the TDP leader T Devender Goud pointed out that the amendment was against the interests of the poor and it was an 'anti-poor' step taken by the government. He demanded that the government should withdraw the proposal of the amendment to the existing law and alleged that the real beneficiaries were the Congress leaders.

Opposing the Bill, All India Mujlis-eIttehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) floor leader Akberudddin Owaisi alleged that the government should protect the wakf lands and distribute the encroached assigned lands to the real beneficiaries.

Earlier, the state government adopted a Bill amending the Andhra Pradesh Value Added Tax (VAT) Act 2005 introduced by the state Commercial Tax Minister K Ramakrishna. The objective of the Bill was to exempt the mess charges collected by hostels for students where the amount charged was less than Rs 1,000 per student per month.

Other two bills to amend - the Andhra Pradesh Survey and Boundaries Act 1923 and the Registration Act 1908 was adopted which were introduced by the state Revenue Minsiter D Prasada Rao. Other political parties supported the government's decision.

UNI AP GKT MIR DB2239