The state government will charge a symbolic registration fee from heirs of family land if they want to register it, chief minister Nitish Kumar said on Monday.
“I have asked the officials to take symbolic or token registration fee of Rs 100 or Rs 200 from people for registering in their name land they have come to own after division of family property. At present the charges are high and people avoid getting it registered. This later leads to disputes,” Nitish said.
He said the proposal is already there and he has asked chief secretary Deepak Kumar to bring it before him as quickly as possible. Nitish also assured that cabinet approval will be granted to the proposal, if necessary.
Nitish was speaking at the launch of facilities for online mutation, online payment of land rent and suo motu mutation service by connecting land registry offices with circle offices. Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, revenue and land reforms minister Ram Narayan Mandal and principal secretary Brajesh Mehrotra, home and prohibition, principal secretary, Amir Subhani, Bihar State Revenue Board chairman-cum-member Sunil Kumar Singh and others were present at the programme.
People can now apply for mutation and pay land rent on `www.land.bihar.gov.in`
The chief minister said taking a token money will cut down on disputes that, at times, lead to crimes. “My experience hearing from people for years at janata durbar and a review with officials has shown that over 60 per cent of crimes result from land disputes because the land records haven’t been updated. Land settlement survey was done in 1901-02 and it has been decades that a special settlement survey was done,” Nitish said.
The chief minister added that aerial survey of land settlement was underway in Bihar with the government fixing the target to
complete the work in another two-and-a-half years. All important land registers and documents will also be scanned and kept safely; and e-records stored in three places for security purposed.
Nitish pointed out considering massive shortage of “amin” (personnel to measure land) in Bihar, the government will recruit 23,000 amins, 1,203 special survey and settlement officers, 2,297 circle inspectors, 2,406 clerks, 1,203 executive assistants, 12 data entry operators and 1,203 information technology workers.
Services of government junior engineers could be used till the time these recruitments are done, he said, asserting that “once all these steps are complete, land disputes will be less and this would lead to a drop in the crime graph”.
The chief minister has asked the district magistrates to devote at least a half or a full day a week to conduct hearings on land disputes. Station house officers and circle officers should also conduct public meetings every Saturday.
District magistrates and superintendents of police are to conduct meetings to listen to land disputes once every 15 days, while the
chief secretary, director-general of police and principal secretary-rank officers will do so once a month.