Patna, June 3: After a nearly 16-year wait, Jharkhand will get cadastral and revisional survey maps of its districts from Bihar.
The decision to hand over these maps - which show the extent, ownership, boundaries of land holdings, and are needed for land revenue and reform purposes - was taken by chief minister Nitish Kumar as a "goodwill gesture" at a meeting with Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) president Babulal Marandi here today. Marandi, then with the BJP, was the first chief minister of Jharkhand after the state was carved out from Bihar in November 2000.
"This is a goodwill gesture by Bihar for Jharkhand. We hope that the various pending matters between the two states would be resolved with the same spirit," Nitish said at the meeting after Marandi requested him to fulfil the long-pending demand for the maps that cover almost all the revenue villages spread across 24 districts in the neighbouring state.
A cadastral survey is one of land in revenue village units to show the extent, ownership, boundaries of land holdings. It also marks whether the land belongs to the government or private individuals. A revisional survey was conducted to update the cadastral survey maps, and to record changes in ownership of land.
Even after Jharkhand's creation in 2000, the cadastral and revisional survey maps remained with Bihar, leading to confusion and land-related disputes in the new state. Bihar went on to digitise its maps and strengthen its revenue and land reforms department, but its neighbour could not do so. Officials in the land revenue department pointed out that the handing over of land documents to Jharkhand was delayed because consecutive governments wanted all the disputes to be resolved together.
The cadastral survey maps include over 82,000 sheets, and in their absence Jharkhand has been unable to implement the central government's National Land Records Modernisation Programme (NLRMP) launched in 2008.
Bihar's principal secretary, revenue and land reforms, Vyasji said: "People, especially farmers, of Jharkhand were facing a lot of hardship owing to this. They had to visit Patna to get photocopies of the map sheets from our land records and survey directorate. They will be spared this trouble once we hand over the maps to Jharkhand."
Vyasji added that his department would keep photo-copies of maps of Jharkhand districts that are located along the state's border with Bihar. This will help avoid confusion and land disputes in the border areas.
Though the issue was hanging fire for years, it could not be sorted out because Bihar insisted on resolving all pending issues related to assets and liabilities by clubbing them together.
Foremost among them are disputes over payment of pension and retirement benefits to government employees in the aftermath of the split; the division of Bihar State Milk Cooperative Federation, Bihar State Road Transport Corporation, Bihar State Industrial Development Corporation, Bihar State Finance Corporation and other similar agencies.
Birendra Kumar Mishra, director, land records and survey, said the cadastral survey in districts of then undivided Bihar was conducted between 1901 and 1921, of which the districts now in Jharkhand were surveyed in 1905-06. A revisional survey was conducted between 1958 and 1961.
"Though the map papers are old, we have kept them in good condition. They have been preserved at the Bihar government's press at Gulzarbagh in Patna City. We are now writing a letter to the Jharkhand government to send some authorised person to whom we can hand over the maps. The entire process may take around a month," Mishra said.
Nitish's gesture is also being seen as a move to strike the right chord among the people of Jharkhand, as the Janata Dal United is eyeing an alliance with Marandi's JVM.
