– An Address by V.Srinivas IAS –
Member Board of Revenue,District Collector Bhilwada,Revenue Appellate Authority Bhilwada,All Additional District Collectors, DIG Registration and Stamps, All Sub-Divisional Officers,All Tehsildars and All Naib-Tehsildars
Bhilwadais amongst the top industrial districts of Rajasthan. The Revenue Administration in Bhilwada has to be oriented to boosting industrialization. One of the major challenges for faster industrialization are clearer land titles. No industrialist would invest in disputed lands where titles are not clear. Amongst the top indicators for “Doing Business 2018” are clearer land titles and transparency in Judicial processes. It is for the Revenue Administration in District Bhilwada to ensure that the “Doing Business 2018” indicators are improved to create an environment where investment levels can improve significantly. District Bhilwada has high value lands and lands with huge potential for rapid industrialization, employment generation and skill development. What one witnesses in an industrialized district are large number of cases for partition of holdings and declaratory suits and Bhilwada has many such cases. Lands need to be partitioned faster so that land sales can be seamless. The partition of holdings must be based on meats and bounds with proper division of shares duly recorded in the revenue maps. Land demarcation for such partitions must be undertaken.
The two major steps that Revenue Administration in Bhilwada should take-up for boosting industrialization and ease of doing business are the following:
a) All Revenue Courts of Bhilwada to be fully digital institutions
b) Effective linkage between Sub-Registrar Offices and Tehsils to ensure timely mutations and entries in record of rights.
Revenue Courts of Bhilwada as fully Digital Institutions
Rajasthan has taken the first step toward Revenue Courts being fully digital institutions on November 2, 2017. We have commenced placing judgments of all Revenue Courts upto Sub-Divisional Officer/ Assistant Collector online. Industrialized Districts like Bhilwada, Pali and Alwar need to take it forward by extending the process upto Tehsil Courts. Further the process of monitoring of stage wise pendency of Court Cases in Revenue Courts can be made online. The Additional Collector has in his power-point presentation indicated that the pendency of SDO Court Bhilwada and Assistant Collector Court Bhilwada together has crossed 2000 cases, when the Fast Track Court case loads are also added – Revenue Litigation in Bhilwada Tehsil is at an all-time high. There are also high case-loads with SDO Court Mandal. The District Collector may give particular attention to Court Sittings and timely disposal of cases in these 2 Courts. Particular emphasis may be placed on timely service of summons. A campaign for ensuring service of summons could be launched for the SDO Courts of Bhilwada and Mandal. Monitoring of stage wise pendency will add to the overall impact of case disposal. Further, an enhanced focus on inspections.
Effective Linkages between Sub-Registrar Offices and Tehsils
As has been pointed out by the DIG Registration and Stamps Bhilwada district is witnessing 2 ½ times the number of registered documents as compared to neighboring Chittorgarh District. The process of sanctioning mutations and entries in record of rights can be expedited. With 70 percent mutations being mortgage based mutations, a significant delay in sanctioning a mutation after registration has high transactional costs. Currently Revenue Officers meetings have an agenda on the pendency status of mutations. This agenda may be extended to include the number of documents registered by the Sub-Registrar and the number of mutations sanctioned and entries made in record of rights. The district could bring down the time period between registration of a document and sanction of a mutation/ entry in record of rights to as low as 48-72 hours with improved monitoring as compared to the current period of 30+ days when there is a monthly exchange of documents between Sub-Registrar and Tehsil Offices. The DILRMP does have a component for a digital integration of Sub-Registrar Offices and Tehsils, and Badnor is amongst the 6 Tehsils where Sub-Registrar Office has been integrated with the Tehsil. This process needs to be streamlined further to have optimum impact.
Discipline in Court Work
I have heard from the members of the Revenue BarBhilwada that there is considerable unpredictability about sittings of Revenue Courts. I would urge all of you to conduct Courts regularly. Today we have more officers and staff manning revenue courts than we ever had in the 70 year history of Rajasthan. These huge numbers must present disciplined and cohesive performances to yield optimal results. SDO’s must conduct Court work from 1030 am to 1.30 pm for 3 days in a week and Assistant Collectors must conduct Court work all 5 days in a week. Judgments must be delivered in time. Speaking orders interpreting each of the issues must be issued. The other issue flagged by the Revenue Bar with regard to preparation of Court files. Several applications being filed in the adjudication process are not being properly placed in Court files resulting in considerable delays. We need to ensure proper documentation. Readers and other Court Staff may be sensitized to proper filing of applications and documentation.
To conclude, please accept my good wishes in all your challenging policy endeavors.
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Address by V.Srinivas IAS, Chairman Board of Revenue at the Revenue Officers Meeting, Conference Hall, Collector’s Office, Bhilwada Dated November 3, 2017
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About the author
V.Srinivas IAS
Senior Bureaucrats and Author
V.Srinivas is an IAS officer of 1989 batch, presently posted as Chairman Board of Revenue for Rajasthan
He had previously served in the Ministry of Finance and as Advisor to Executive Director (India) IMF, Washington DC. Also worked as Planning and Finance Secretary of Rajasthan.
Disclaimer : The views expressed by the author in this feature are entirely his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of INVC NEWS.
