Kaushik Patel says though land records in around 11,000 villages had already been finalised, the revenue department would take into account all objections raised by farmers
In view of charges of widespread errors and irregularities in land mapping work, the state government on Tuesday decided to halt the process of finalising agriculture land records of over 6,000 villages in the state.
Revenue Minister Kaushik Patel told reporters that the decision was taken in the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday morning.
The minister said that though land records in around 11,000 villages had already been finalised, the revenue department would take into account all objections raised by farmers, and resolve the issues faced by them.
"We received many representations from farmers about irregularities and errors in land-survey work. In the interest of farmers, we have decided to half the promulgation of land records in villages where the re-survey work was done, but promulgation was yet to be announced," Patel said.
The decision comes in the wake of tremendous pressure of farmers and the Opposition parties, which had accused the government of being hand-in-glove with agencies responsible for the erroneous records. Even during the assembly session, the opposition had demanded that looking at the number of complaints, the process of re-survey be undertaken afresh.
The minister said that in villages where promulgation notices had already been issued, the state government would ensure that objections raised by farmers are settled.
"The re-survey process would be conducted in a transparent and efficient manner," he said further.
The revenue minister also said that action would be taken against the agencies responsible for the erroneous land records after a fresh re-survey.
"Payments to the responsible agencies have already been made. We will review their work, and strict action will be taken against the erring agencies," he said.
ASSURANCE
- Revenue Minister Kaushik Patel said though land records in around 11,000 villages had already been finalised, the revenue department would take into account all objections raised by farmers, and resolve the issues faced by them.
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