Revenue Administration in Sikar

– An Address by V.Srinivas IAS –

District CollectorSikar,

Revenue Appellate Authority Sikar,

Additional District Collector, Sikar,

All Sub-Divisional Officers, Sikar,

All Tehsildars, Sikar

I am delighted to be with you in Sikar today, I have heard the presentation made by the Additional District Collector and will respond to the issues identified. I would also like to lay down a roadmap for Revenue administration in the District for the coming months. As Revenue Officers it is our mandate to improve justice delivery systems in revenue courts and improve the quality of land records. The litigant is the centrality of the justice system and all efforts must be made to ensure that he is provided timely justice. The Revenue courts must deliver speedy justice and transparent systems of disposal. I would advise you to ensure predictability and consistency in court sittings, timely judgment writing and detailed examination of issues as laid down in the civil procedure code. Please focus on cases pertaining to lands of deity, lands of women, lands of scheduled casts/ scheduled tribes and government lands. Let me turn to specific issues of Sikar District. It is a large agrarian district with 9 Tehsils and 9 Sub-Divisional Officers

Mutations:

The district has sanctioned 28684 mutations in the period April – December 2017. Dataramgad (6107), Lakshmangad (4120) and Srimadhopur (3309) are the Tehsils with highest number of mutations. Almost 70 percent of the mutations are mortgage security, where land has been pledged as collateral for short term crop loan. I would advise you to ensure timely updation of the khataunijamabandisand incorporate the mutations faster.  My experience from visiting many districts in Rajasthan is that there are time lags of 9-12 months.In incorporation some mutations into the Jamabandis.The situation can be easily improved by strict  and periodical monitoring.

Online Jamabandis:

Sikar has largely progressed well in online Jamabandi under the National Land Records Management Program (NLRMP). I am happy to note that Data Ramgad (250) Neemkathana (173),Khandela (138), Dhod (122), Sikar (87) and Fatehpur (63) have successfully uploaded the entire Tehsil’s Jamabandi online. Srimadhopur and Ramgad Shekhawati have been notified as Model Tehsils which is commendable. I am happy to note the progress achieved in the Digitization of Cadastral Maps in the model tehsils of the district. In the remaining 7 Tehsils also progress has been encouraging. The District authorities may focus on timely completion of Model Record Rooms.

Inspections:

All through my career I have been a firm believer in timely inspections and night halts. The data presented reflects a sub-optimal level of performance in conducting inspections in that inspections of ILRs and Patwaris by Tehsildarsand SDO’s are well belownorms. Priority must be accorded to inspections and I would urge the District Collector to ensure timely completion of inspections by the SDO’s and Tehsildars by tight monitoring in the coming days. Inspections must be accompanied by night halts and field visits. Reading the Jamabandi “Majm-e-Aam” would be highly beneficial in identifying the backlog of mutations in the patwar circle.

Court Work:

SDO Courts are witnessing high pendency and litigation. SDO’s of Dhod, Dataramgad, Khandela have high pendency and must conduct court work with considerable seriousness of purpose. Most of the litigation is partition of holdings. Section 53 of the Rajasthan Tenancy Act is easy section to adjudicate, yet given the processes involved, such adjudication takes nearly 5 years. Jamabandis manifestly contain majority of  khatasare of co-tenancy and such trend gives rise to multiplicity of the land disputes, particularly when one of the co-tenants seeks to sell his share by registered sale deed. Therefore the revenue functionaries at the tehsil level must persuade farmers for division of holdings. In cases where partition of holdings is not possible based on mutual agreement, the judicial process has to be adopted.

In this regard, I would advise you to ensure predictability and consistency of court sittings. Monday to Wednesday 1030 am to 1.30 pm must be devoted to Court Work. SDO’s must list about 80 cases in the daily cause list – 20 cases in arguments, 20 cases of miscellaneous applications, 20 cases for framing of issues, 10 cases for evidence, 10 cases for issue of Final Decrees. It must be ensured evidence of all witnesses who are coming to Court must be recorded on the same day. It takes a lot of effort and money for the witness to come to Courts.

It is important that SDO’s write quality judgments. Judgment writing must be issue based. Please deliberate on each individual issue and give specific findings. In cases where case law has been cited, please record the gist of the case-law that has been cited. Once individual khatedari rights are declared in the partition of holdings, the SDO’s must follow-up on timely submission of partition of holdings by meats and bounds by the Tehsildars.

Tehsildars must visit the disputed land to ensure proper partition by meats and bounds as laid down in the Board of Revenue (Tenancy) Rules.

I would also advise you to accord highest priority to protection of common lands. Tehsildars must use the powers delegated to them for civil imprisonment U/s 91 (6) in cases where there are multiple encroachments on lands listed under Section 16 of the Rajasthan Tenancy Act, 1956 where khatedari rights cannot be given. Further you must accord priority to protection of temple lands and protection of women’s rights in partition of holdings as also protection of Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe Lands.

The SDO’s have been vested with considerable powers under the Rajasthan Tenancy Act to declare rights of tenants. High quality judgment writing can reduce decades of litigation in higher courts. Similarly the appellate courts of the district, the Additional District Collector, the District Collector and the Revenue Appellate Authority must exercise due supervision on the Subordinate Revenue Courts.

I am happy to note that Revenue Courts in Sikar District have placed 8472 cases on Rajasthan Courts Management System Portal which is a commendable achievement.

Revenue Recoveries and Setting Apart Lands for Public Purposes:

Land Revenue Recoveries have been targeted at Rs. 303 lacs and recoveries stand at Rs. 162 lacs, I am hopeful that Sikar district would be in a position to achieve 100 percent revenue recoveries in financial year 2017-18.

Sikar district also has a number of cases for allotment of lands for public purposes. These applications may be processed with due diligence as per the established practices of Rajasthan Land Allotment Rules.

Please accept my good wishes in all your challenging policy endeavors.