On Camera, Telangana Farmers Grovel At Officer's Feet Over Ancestral Land

Two elderly farmers fall at the feet of a revenue officer in Telangana, begging him to help them, in a video that has been widely circulated online.

In the clip, which is from Ranga Reddy district, the farmers can be heard pleading with the officer not to take away their livelihood and land.

The officer is seen simply walking away.

A subsequent video has the farmer, Sattaiah, his brother Lingaiah and another farmer, Mallaiah, saying their "Pattadar passbook", which is proof of their land entitlement, was taken away after a physical verification and they were being harassed.

Their ancestral land of a little over two acres each has been transferred to the name of one Rizvi.

"We have been running around for six to eight months. When the collector or MRO comes, they say it will get done in an hour. But the local official doesn't do it," says Sattaiah.

"They threatened and humiliated us. I told him we are farmers, please talk respectfully. He said I can slap a case on you and send you to jail," says Lingaiah.

Multiple cases have emerged in the last few months in which the process of computerisation and posting of land records online -- aimed at transparency -- seems to have become a way of harassing farmers. Mistakes have cropped up in many of the records put up online. Farmers allege that to have these errors corrected, they are forced to pay bribes.

The chief minister has proposed a new law to increase transparency and reduce corruption in the land records and revenue department.