‘One can now apply for a cert from anywhere and anytime’

Revenue and disaster management secretaryBishnupada Sethi talks to Ashok Pradhan about Odisha’s recent land reforms. Excerpts from an interview.
Tell us about the major reforms introduced to ensure the poor get their land rights easily…
Citizens have to visit a government office for land sale or purchase only once, at the time of registration. After that the sale transaction report (Form No- 3) gets automatically transmitted to the tehsil concerned for suo motu initiation of mutation case and updation of record of rights in a time-bound manner through the land records management system (LRMS). Citizens are not required to visit the tehsil office for filing application for mutation. The Odisha Survey & Settlement Rules were recently amended to ensure people get the updated record of rights (ROR) within seven days. Before the pandemic, citizens were getting updated RoRs through speed post. Since Covid started, most of the updated RoRs are being delivered to citizens at their doorstep through Rajaswa Rath.
Online facility has also been extended to citizens to apply from anywhere and anytime for conversion of agricultural land to other type (such as homestead), for demarcation of land (for industries/corporate sectors) and for partition of land on mutual agreement, thus obviating the need to visit the tehsil office. There is immense focus on timely delivery of public services, elimination of intermediaries and removing physical interface which helped everyone, including the vulnerable and marginalized, get their land rights in a time-bound manner without any hassle.
What are the steps taken to increase government revenue?
The revenue & disaster management department’s objective is to deliver public services to citizens instead of increasing government revenue. In many cases, we have waived off fees instead of increasing them. For example, in cases of miscellaneous and caste certificates, we have waived off all kinds of fees which directly benefits around 50 lakh people mostly, youth, vulnerable and marginalized population.
However, we have taken steps for augmentation of revenue generated from minor minerals sources by creating a directorate of minor minerals. It coordinates with state environment impact assessment authority (SEIAA) for early grant of environmental clearance to operationalize more number of sources, early approval of mining plans, rigorous enforcement activities by the tehsil-level teams and higher authorities to curb illegal mining and transportation among others.
Has the revenue increased or decreased during the pandemic?
The revenue collection from minor mineral sources has increased during the pandemic. As a result of regular review of minor mineral matters with the field officers and continuous monitoring of the inspection and enforcement activities, Rs 962 crore has been collected during 2020-21 fiscal against Rs 680 crore in 2019-20. In the current financial year (till August 2021), Rs 280.87 crore has been collected against the proportional progressive target of Rs 247 crore.
How technology has been put to use for seamless land registrations during the pandemic?
One can prepare sale deed sitting at home through online preparation of deed through the website of inspector general of registration (IGR) and can take online appointment for presentation of deed. Also, the benchmark values of each plot is available in the IGR website so that one can calculate the registration fee and stamp duty required for each sale transaction. More than 95% of registered documents are delivered on the same day of registration. Other measures taken for hassle-free registration service delivery are online issue of certified copy of previously registered documents, online district level society registration, online application for marriage registration under Special Marriage Act and integration of customer feedback after delivery of each service among others.
Getting various certificates such as caste/resident were tedious process before. How do you intend to make it friendlier?
We have made the entire system — from filing up of application to delivery of various miscellaneous and caste certificates — online. One can apply for any certificate from anywhere and anytime. Citizens do not need to visit the tehsil to apply for any kind of certificate. Resident and income certificates are issued based on self-declaration. The mandated timeline for delivery of each certificate has been reduced.
How to avoid land fraud?
The government has zero tolerance for any kind of fraud or corruption. The government has its internal mechanism so that a fraud is detected at the earliest and people responsible are taken to task. Senior officers like sub-collectors, additional district magistrates (ADMs) and collectors review revenue matter in detail from time to time and report if there is any irregularity.
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