Settlement act: expert opinion will be sought on draft

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Expert opinion will be sought on the draft of the proposed settlement law, which will determine the exact ownership of all lands. As part of this, a workshop will be organized today. The draft was prepared by the Land Revenue Commissionerate. The Act aims to provide ownership rights to all lands with the cooperation of the Registration Department based on the land information in the digital re-survey that is currently underway.

After the consideration of the legal department, the draft will be finalized by incorporating the suggestions of the experts. It is intended to introduce a Bill in the Legislative Assembly, or bring it down as an Ordinance. Prior to the formation of Kerala, the princely states of Travancore, Cochin and Malabar were surveyed and a settlement register was prepared. The records of that day are still considered as the land records in the state.

Once the digital survey is completed, the records and maps of the revenue, survey and registration departments will be integrated. In 1994, the Revenue Department had issued an order to treat land as possession rights if individuals have more land than is in the records. This was changed in 2019. The changed condition was that if the possession is less than five percent of the registered land the Tehsildar and if it is more than five percent then the District Collector can check and give permission for mutation of property. But it was still not possible to identify whether it was surplus land or encroachment. This will be resolved with the coming of the Settlement Act.

Important provisions of the Act

• If any land in possession of a person is found to be more than what is on record, get it sorted.
• Check the current status of excess land to know whether its land or homestead and determine how to adjust according to the actual situation.
• If there are complaints from those who share the boundary of the land, accept them and get the consent letter