The ambitious digitization project of the Telangana Waqf Board has hit a significant obstacle that threatens to derail the entire initiative. Thousands of original Nizam-era land records, essential for establishing ownership of valuable properties, remain inaccessible inside a sealed Urdu record room at the office of the chief commissioner of land administration (CCLA).
The Critical Missing Link in Land Digitization
Despite the Waqf Board's urgent efforts to digitize its extensive land holdings on the Umeed portal, the exercise faces complete stagnation due to the unavailability of these historical documents. The sealed record room has remained shut for five years, preventing officials, mutawallis (caretakers), and even the public from accessing documents that define institutional ownership of waqf, paigah, jagir, and inam lands across the region.
According to sources familiar with the matter, hundreds of legal cases involving prime land parcels worth thousands of crores in Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Medchal Malkajgiri, and Sangareddy districts depend entirely on these locked documents. The records are crucial for establishing legitimate ownership, defending against encroachments, and issuing certified copies required for legal proceedings.
Historical Treasure Trove Vulnerable to Decay
Mohammed Asadullah, chief executive officer of the Waqf Board, revealed the immense historical value contained within the sealed room. The record room houses over one lakh documents from the Nizam period, covering five historical districts including areas that now fall in Karnataka's Raichur and the Maratwada region.
"The records were related to jagirs, inams belonging to institutions and also private individuals, paigah lands, maktha, pan maktha, dargahs, endowments, and other documents like Sarf-e-Khas," Asadullah explained. Most documents are written in Urdu, Persian, and Arabic languages, requiring specialized linguistic expertise to interpret.
With the Waqf Board currently relying only on documents from the first survey conducted in 1955, officials express serious concerns about the vulnerability of the older collection. The original sanads (government-issued documents), grants, and institutional records remain at risk of permanent damage and decay inside the locked facility.
Access Denied Despite Repeated Appeals
Abul Fateh Syed Bandagi Badesha Quadri, an elected member of the Waqf Board, described the complete impossibility of accessing these critical records. "The record room is not accessible to anyone, and there are doubts about the condition of the documents, which may be mutilated and need to be preserved," Quadri stated.
The access problem has a tragic history. Previously, one Urdu-literate person was assigned to manage the room, but he passed away. His replacement eventually retired, and subsequently, an office subordinate was appointed in charge before the room was permanently sealed five years ago.
Quadri has now escalated the matter by writing to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Chief Secretary K Rama Krishna Rao, urging immediate intervention to protect these historically significant files. His letter recalled that the room was once actively used, routinely issuing crucial ownership papers to citizens and institutions until its closure.
"The CCLA and state archives used to give certified copies of muntakhabs, files, and other documents of the Urdu record room to the people," Quadri noted, proposing that the CCLA record room should be systematically transferred to state archives to prevent further damage and make it accessible to government agencies, courts, and the general public.
Meanwhile, sources within the CCLA maintain that the room was closed specifically to prevent unauthorized access and potential misuse, including the creation of fraudulent documents—a problem that has historically plagued several land categories in the region.
