Staff shortage and apparent lack of coordination between departments have kept nearly 16,000 applications pending decision.
Published Aug 24, 2024 | 12:00 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 24, 2024 | 12:38 PM
Nearly 16,000 applications to change the status of agricultural land to non-agricultural land are pending before district administrations in Karnataka.
According to government guidelines, deputy commissioners must clear the applications for changing the land’s status within 30 days of receiving them. However, 15,812 applications have remained uncleared, forcing the applicants to run from pillar to post.
Concerned by the high number of pending applications, the Department of Revenue has directed deputy commissioners to clear the pending applications at the earliest and publish the pending cases statistics on the official website. The directive was issued following a court order.
To streamline the process, the Karnataka government is considering automation and Unified Land Management System (ULMS) applications to clear all the applications in a timebound manner.
However, deputy commissioners cited staff shortages and a delay on the part of associated departments as reasons for applications pending before them.
Bengaluru Urban lags far behind
“A total of 15,812 NA applications are pending before the district administrations. Bengaluru Urban has the highest pending applications, with 1,570 requests awaiting clearance. Around 952 applications are pending even after the citizens have made the payment,” the Revenue Department said.
“Followed by Bengaluru Urban, Mandya has 1,577 pending applications, Mysuru 1,226, and Tumakuru 859. Yadgir and Haveri are the only two districts that have less than 100 pending applications,” the department stated.
Of the total pending cases, 4,883 applications have been held up for 30 days to 90 days, 1,672 applications for 91 days to 180 days, 1,174 applications for 181 days to 360 days, and 470 applications for the past year.
A total of 3,503 applications are awaiting payments from applicants, while 952 applications are pending even after receiving the payment.
“There is a 30-day timeline for affidavit conversions and seven days for the master-based plan.” Revenue Commissioner Sunil Kumar told South First.
“When a citizen applies for an affidavit conversion, the deadline for the preliminary approval is 30 days. The tahsildar and other departments have the first 15 days to verify and clear the file,” he explained the process.
“The remaining 15 days will be given to the deputy commissioner to carry out further procedures. Likewise, there will be just a one-week time for master-based plan conversion as the process is confined to the deputy commissioner and Urban Development,” Kumar said.
“There are several factors for the delay, including the time taken for issuing clarification and issuing no objection certificate from associated departments. We are pushing for the deputy commissioners to clear the applications at the earliest,” he added.
Deputy Commissioner Dr Kumar of Mandya said the actual number of pending cases is lesser than the Revenue Department statistics. He blamed other departments for the delay.
“I am regularly chairing meetings with the officials concerned and clearing the applications. The other issue is the lack of staff in Town Planning and other departments,” he told South First.
“We have only one Town Planning commissioner in Mandya. We need to have at least five such officers in to expedite the process,” he said.
Koppal DC Nalini Atul said the district has 450 pending applications. “In most cases, late payment and incorrect affidavits led to the delay,” the official told South First.
“Most information provided in the affidavit will be wrong. In some cases, the affidavit would be false. We have also started initiating legal action against such applicants,” Atul stated.
“We have limited manpower to carry out the process without any hindrances or delaying it. However, I am convening a review meeting to speed up the process to clear the pending applications,” the official added.
While the pending applications are piling up at the district administrations across the state, the Revenue Department is gearing up to streamline the process to clear backlogs by introducing automation and the Unified Land Management System (ULMS).
“We are working towards introducing automation and ULMS to avoid the delay. With the rolling out of the automation system, the applicant will not only receive regular updates but also get his application approved in the given timeline,” Revenue Department Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar Kataria told South First.
“We are coming up with a Unified Land Management System. The ULMS will be integrated with the five components including survey, Bhoomi, e-Swathu, and e-Aasthi. This will also help in streamlining the process and clear files in the stipulated time,” Kataria said, adding that Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda is chairing regular review meetings to clear the pending applications.
Admitting the lack of staff as one of the major concerns, Kataria said, “I agree that there is a staff crunch in the Town Planning. It does not fall under the purview of our department.”
“There has to be interdepartmental communication. Deputy commissioners have to interact with other departments regarding the applications. There are some issues. We are working towards resolving them and clearing the applications in the given time,” he added.
(Edited by Majnu Babu)
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