Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda has told the officers of his department that the government will take action against those who ignore rules and procedures while granting land to people who filed applications as per Form 57.
In a review meeting in Shivamogga on Wednesday, Mr. Byre Gowda said the government had arrested a KAS officer for illegally granting land in Kadur taluk. “We will not safeguard anyone. Hundreds of acres of government land have been granted without following the set procedures in Kadur and Mudigere taluks of Chikkamagaluru district. While genuine applications are pending, the fake applicants have been granted land. The officer is facing cases filed by both the Revenue Department and the Forest Department. Don’t work for land grabbers, help the genuine applicants,” he said.
The Minister said that the government would soon introduce an app to ease the process of clearing applications seeking grants of land. The village accountants have to visit the land that the applicant claims to have been cultivating and mark the boundaries. “We will share the satellite images of the said land taken in the last 15 years. The images will show if the applicant cultivated that land or not. Based on the images, the land grant committee can take the final call,” he said.
From now on, Mr. Byre Gowda said the tahsildars would be asked to clear the pending applications by a set deadline. “In the past, the government did not bother to form the land grant committees. We will form the committees and entrust the tahsildars to finish the task within the stipulated time. You have to convene meetings and clear the applications,” he said.
He also raised objections to the delay in clearing cases pending before the courts of the tahsildar, Assistant Commissioner, and Deputy Commissioner. “It seems you are all working to help the advocates. Give them enough opportunities to respond, but there is no need to delay the judgments. You should work for the welfare of people, not advocates,” he said.
Revenue Department Principal Secretary Rajender Kumar Kataria, who was also present in the meeting, wanted to know from officers why many orders had been pending even after completing the hearing process. He suggested that each case should be cleared within six to eight hearings. “What we are supposed to do is make a summary enquiry, not more than that,” he said. The Minister also suggested the Deputy Commissioner conduct a workshop for the officers on handling cases and passing orders.
