In a state where land disputes are rampant and lead to legal cases and violence, chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday received suggestions at his Lok Samvad (public interaction) to curb them by modifying rules.
The suggestions came from Subodh Kumar, 41, a resident of Bihta in Patna who said residential and commercial land should be allowed to be sold only after being boundary-walled. This would cut the disputes with the owners of neighbouring plots.
"A law should be made that land could be sold by its owner only after its boundary has been properly demarcated. Similarly, land revenue ( lagan) receipts should mention details about the plot, including its holding number and boundary to make land records transparent. They will also hold weight in court cases," Subodh said.
Subodh, a sub-divisional officer (SDO) at Sheikhpura in south Bihar, also suggested that the state government should encourage people to register "division of land or property" belonging to their family, and the registration department should either charge very less for it or simply waive it off.
Reacting to the suggestions, Nitish said: "The pressure of population on land and the rise in land prices have led to several legal problems. Wherever I go in the state, land disputes form the major part of the issues that come to us. The same holds true for the Bihar Right to Public Grievance Redressal Act, in which the maximum number of complaints that come are related to land. More than one person registers the same plot and it leads to legal cases."
The chief minister pointed out that the high number of land-related disputes and problems were an outcome of the "permanent settlement" of land during the British regime, which brought about the zamindari system.
Nitish asked revenue and land reforms department principal secretary Vivek Kumar Singh to react on the suggestions to which he said that the laws related to land revenue receipts would be amended so that location details about the plot, holding number and boundary are mentioned on them.
Vivek added that special provisions are being brought in the Bihar Tenancy Act to remove problems related to land measurement. Home and prohibition, excise and registration department principal secretary Amir Subhani said boundaries are demarcated in sale deeds of land.
Amit Singh of Patna had come to the Lok Samvad to inform about a mobile phone application Raksha, which can alert police when a woman is in distress once she presses a mobile phone key. It also provides location of the person on real time. Director-general of police (DGP) P.K. Thakur, who was present on the occasion, said: "The Union home ministry is setting up a National Emergency Response System (Ners), while there is already a mobile app, Himmat, launched by the Delhi Police for women's safety. We need to study the apps in the context of Ners and Himmat and evaluate them. Features which are not present in the apps could be added in them."
Dinesh Prasad Singh of Aurangabad wanted the state government to use land lying unused with different departments to develop multi-storeyed buildings and earn revenue. He also suggested that high rises could be constructed at all block headquarters to house offices and banks.
