Uttam orders immediate release of ₹813cr pending with officials to farmers | Hyderabad News

Hyderabad: Irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday pulled up district officials over delays in compensation payments and directed them to ensure that funds reach affected farmers without delay. He warned that irrigation projects should not suffer because money remains parked in govt accounts.Reviewing land acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) works through a video conference with district collectors, along with minister Ponnam Prabhakar and chief secretary Sanjay Jaju, Uttam expressed concern that ₹813 crore remains undisbursed in the accounts of collectors, revenue divisional officers and special deputy collectors.Officials informed the meeting that since April 1, tokens worth ₹3,101 crore had been submitted and ₹2,504 crore released towards land acquisition and R&R. Of the pending amount, ₹502 crore is with land acquisition officers and ₹311 crore with collectors.Stating that compensation must reach land losers promptly, Uttam directed collectors to personally monitor cases and expedite negotiations, awards and payments.“If the money has been released, it must reach the land-losing farmers. If for any genuine reason it cannot be disbursed, explain the reason and return the money instead of keeping it idle,” he said.The minister recalled that chief minister A Revanth Reddy had earmarked ₹6,000 crore in 2026 for land acquisition, R&R and forest clearances related to irrigation projects. The funds, he said, were being arranged outside the regular irrigation budget to ensure that priority projects are not delayed for want of money.Uttam stressed that tokens should be raised only after awards are passed and cases are ready for payment. At the same time, he called for a humane approach towards landowners.“The govt does not want to be unfair to farmers while taking away their land. Compensation should be as close as reasonably possible to prevailing market values,” he said.He also directed officials to clear pending compensation cases, pay statutory interest where applicable and compile court-related disputes for legal follow-up. Several irrigation projects, he noted, are nearing completion but remain held up due to pending land acquisition for canals and connecting works.