Land Record confusion created by rushed nature of 1980 survey

GOVT IN THE PROCESS OF COMMISSIONING FRESH LAND SURVEY TO RECTIFY ERRORS, UPDATE AND MODERNISE RECORDS
GANGTOK, 09 July: It has been acknowledged that there could be more anomalies in the recording of land holdings similar to that of Kumar Pradhan whose plots of land had been erroneously recorded as government land during the second land survey conducted in the state in 1980 [read “Irresponsible land survey consumes private lands, indifferent bureaucracy sells it on” published in NOW! issue dated 09 July 2012]. But while there is the case of Mr. Pradhan and about 30 other landowners of East District whose lands were wrongly recorded as government land, the State administration, while accepting part of the blame for the consequent confusion, also holds the landowners in question as being partly responsible. The High Court is currently adjudicating the issue with directions to the state administration to come up with a proposal to resolve the issue. This proposal will cover all those people whose lands have been wrongly recorded as government land in the land records with the administration.
A probe into the issue reveals that land disputes are quite common in the State due to wrongful recording of plots and also incomplete procedures regarding sale and mutation of land by landowners and buyers.
Meanwhile, one of the reasons behind the erroneous recording of plots is the manner in which the second land survey of 1980 was conducted in the state. A land survey is an exhaustive exercise and requires adequate time as well as sufficient funds.
It is informed that the 1980 survey was funded by the Central government and for starters, the funds were not sufficient. The amins or land surveyors were young and new and apart from the local amins, also roped in for the task were amins from Garhwal. There was a stiff stipulation laid down on the target for each day which was 3 or 7.5 acres to be surveyed each day, failing which the particular amin was disengaged from the assignment. This itself led to confusion and a larger concern among the surveyors to meet the daily target rather than meet the standards of the survey exercise.
Moreover, running concurrently at around the same time was the Bhoomisudar [land reforms] campaign which advocated that an individual could not hold more than 12.5 acres of land. The additional land, it was being advocated, would be taken over by the government. Though this campaign was eventually not successful, at the time of the survey, it was effective in disheartening the landowners as a result of which their cooperation in the survey was not all that forthcoming, it is informed.
While it can be speculated as to why or how landowners whose lands were recorded as government land could have been kept at bay for so long, there is an opinion that they may not have pursued their cases at the right forum or delayed due to lack of information, with may not have known how to go about it.
However, it is informed that the administration had, through the Mandals, which were the village bodies before the panchayats, tried to sensitize the people about the survey. In fact, it is informed there have been and still are land disputes because of the failure of the buyer to go in for mutation largely because he was not aware of it. Without mutation, the purchased land continues to remain in the name of the original owner and subsequently, his progeny may dispute the sale of the land.
The government is aware of the need to update and modernize the land records, for which, a proposal has already been mooted. In fact the proposal along with its financial implications was mooted quite some time back. This time, the survey is to use modern technology and methods but has not been able to take to field due to non availability of experts to handle the technology as one of the reasons. As of now, the government intends to train and prepare land surveyors and other officials on the technology. The new survey, if and when conducted, is expected to settle a variety of confusions and disputes.

Irresponsible land survey consumes private lands, indifferent bureaucracy sells it on

IRREGULARITIES IN LAND SURVEY OF 1980’S RECORDED MORE THAN 30 PRIVATE LAND HOLDINGS AS GOVERNMENT LAND, BUREAUCRATIC INERTIA CONTINUES TO STALL RECTIFICATION 

GANGTOK, 08 July: Gross irregularities in the recording of land holdings by State government agencies have come to the fore, but what is even more astounding is the lack of any will on the part of the concerned government agencies to rectify the irregularities even where the mistakes are clear and even admitted. It only follows then that the consequent injustices like lost ownerships or claims to compensation remain unaddressed as well.
Kumar Pradhan pursued his ‘file’ for rectification of his land wrongly recorded as government land with the Land Revenue and Forest Departments, and finally, when nothing came of it, had to seek intervention of the High Court of Sikkim through his advocate, Doma T Bhutia. This step, he was compelled to take, when the State government sold his land to a hydel project developer.
It has surfaced that the State government had wrongly recorded Mr. Pradhan’s private land as government land during the last survey operation carried out in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. That was the last land survey operation in the State and the Land Revenue Department is reported to be preparing for a fresh land survey of the entire state. For the past more than three decades, the private land of Mr. Pradhan has officially been under the government but what has now surfaced is that it is not just his land which was wrongly recorded as government land during the survey but that there are about 30 other similarly affected land owners in the concerned area of East District under the Singtam and Rangpo range.
Till the land remained with the government, Mr. Pradhan and others were content with trying the persuade the agencies to release their lands, but their patience broke when their lands were sold off a few years ago to a hydel project developing company – the Madhya Bharat Power Corporation Limited which is developing the 96 MW Rongnichu HEP in Rorathang, East Sikkim. No compensation was paid to them.
In fact, it is reported that after Mr. Pradhan was made to run from pillar to post to get his lands rightly recorded as his, he was finally told by the Forest Department to visit the regional office of the Ministry of Environment & Forests in Shillong. This was beyond his capacity. Mr. Pradhan has two plots of land which have been sold off to Madhya Bharat, one about 1.28 acres and the other of about an acre.
It has emerged that the State government has admitted that several lands had been wrongly recorded as government’s during the last survey operation and this has also been recorded in the minutes of a meeting held among relevant agencies and departments, including the Forest and Land Revenue departments. While this meeting was held in July 2007, there has been no concrete move to rectify the situation and no steps initiated towards compensating the affected landowners and in the interim, portions of the lands in question sold off to a third party.
Only in 2011 were some inspections conducted of the area to ascertain and verify the claims.
However, now the High Court of Sikkim has taken cognizance of the matter and issued directions to the State government to take a decision on the matter for compensating the affected landowners.

New set of land records formalized for Ravangla

GANGTOK, 14 March: Ravangla has finally got a new set of land records. The old land records of Ravangla bazaar and its surrounding areas, prepared in 1976-1983 and dating much further back to the time of the Chogyals and when the Ralong monastery ‘owned’ the bazaar and surrounding areas, have now been notified by the state government to have ceased to be in operation. New land records prepared by the Land Revenue Department from the year 2006 to 2010 have now replaced the old records. In the process, all persons allotted land by the monastery have now had their respective land holdings regularized.
The preparation and implementation of new records for Ravangla and surrounding areas was very much needed and was acutely felt to resolve the impression of dual ownership or authority over the area by both the Ralong gumpa as well as the State administration.
In fact, it has only been in recent years that the administration of the area has come gradually and completely into the hands of the state administration from the gumpa which earlier exercised control over the area and in the allotment of plots. The monastery even collected taxes etc from the people which has now passed on to the State administration but with the monastery receiving 50% of the revenue thus collected and freed from utilizing it for development of civic amenities.
The gumpa committee often allotted plots to individuals for which there were no proper records. What further complicated the situation was that some of these lands happened to be forest lands.
The practice of allotting lands to individuals along with the practice of collecting taxes posed the question of relevancy of the administration which was providing all the utilities as well was engaged in the development of the area. While the state has taken over these functions and powers, absence of proper land records posed problems and also the potential to spark disputes among land owners.
At the same time, it was also important that the lands allotted by the monastery be recognized and regularized; this, especially with the formation of municipal bodies. All this necessitated the preparation of new land records. The process of preparing the new records took a number of years and required extensive surveys etc.
The process completed, the monastery can no longer allot plots and the boundaries of the Ravangla bazaar have also been redefined with the Settlement area and Rabong block forming the eastern boundary; Berfung and Deythang blocks forming the western boundary; Seleley Slip area forming the northern boundary and Berfung block and Tea Garden block forming the southern boundary.
Incidentally, the entire land records of Sikkim and which are adhered to by the government were prepared between 1976-1983 and there is a proposal currently for the modernization of the state’s land records.

…no such luck for Gyalshing
GANGTOK, 14 March: While the state government has been able in reconciling and regularizing the land records and holdings of Ravangla bazaar it has not been able to do the same with Gyalshing and Rabdentse. Gyalshing bazaar and surrounding areas also pose the same problem and complications as Ravangla did for the administration. While in the case of Ravangla bazaar, it was the Ralong Monastery which earlier exercised authority, in the case of Gyalshing and Rabdentse, it is the Pemayangste monastery. This is a historical situation carried over from the pre-merger days, and while the State government has attempted to resolve the situation and set the records straight for Rabdentse and Gyalshing on similar lines as Ravangla, the gumpa committee at Pemayangtse monastery has not agreed to the move and preferred to continue its rights on the area. The preparation of new land records in Ravangla was possible because the monastery there had agreed to the proposal of the government. With the Pemayangste monastery not agreeing with the government’s intention at preparing new lands records there could be complications later on.