The Tamil Nadu government has constituted a five-member special committee headed by the Commissioner of Land Administration (CLA) to resolve long-pending land-related issues and grievances at the Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB).
According to a government order (G.O.) issued by the Housing and Urban Development Department earlier this month, the committee was constituted based on an announcement made by Minister S. Muthusamy in May that boxes would be kept in TNHB’s head office and 15 divisional offices to get petitions from the public regarding no-objection certificates (NOCs), patta transfers and matters related to land acquisition.
The Minister had announced that a special committee would be formed to scrutinise the petitions and give recommendations to take final decisions. The Managing Director of TNHB had also requested the government to constitute a special committee to devise a strategic plan of action and arrive at final decisions on various long-standing land-related issues.
According to the G.O., the committee will also look into devising action plans to address issues, including encroachments on TNHB-acquired lands, pattas issued to individuals for lands belonging to TNHB, and filing of appeals in court cases where TNHB’s land acquisition proceedings were quashed without the board being a party to those cases.
Denotification
Government sources said a key task of the committee would be to consider proposals for “denotification of lands” where acquisition proceedings of TNHB were quashed by courts or where TNHB was unable to take possession even after several years. Land parcels of considerable size in Chennai and the State, where development has happened without the involvement of TNHB, are likely to be impacted by this particular exercise, they added.
The committee will also consider creating a land bank — with litigation-free and encumbrance-free lands — for schemes that are to be implemented by the TNHB in the future, the G.O. said.
While the CLA is the Chairman, the Joint Commissioner (Commissionerate of Land Administration) will be the Convener of the committee. TNHB MD; Secretary to Government (Legal Affairs); and Secretary to Government holding the post of Financial Advisor in TNHB; will be the members.
The committee has been asked to submit a report on the plan of action within six months.
