Bhubaneswar: As part of the 5T initiative and in order to fast-track the service delivery system, the state government has initiated deliberations on simplification of land kisams (type of land use) and satwas (type of land holdings) to ensure that people get timely revenue service.
A high-level meeting was held in this regard under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy in Lok Seva Bhavan conference hall here, Thursday.
Member of Board of Revenue CJ Venugopal said, “The existing rules regarding kisams and satwas are quite old and they need more simplification in context of changing socio-economic scenario.”
Additional Chief Secretary to Revenue & Disaster Management, Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra, said that rationalisation of kisam system would make transfer of land and extension of benefits to the farmers easier and quicker. It would also make the revenue payment system easier, he added.
Considering different facets of the proposal, the chief secretary directed the officials to hold elaborate consultations with different stakeholders including people’s representatives. “Informed consultations will check spread of misconceptions and will be helpful in people’s acceptance,” he said.
Recent reforms like digitisation of land records, land record management system, Bhulekh and Bhunaksa point to the need for rationalisation of the kisams and satwas, sources said.
At present, 7,797 kisams find mention in the Record of Rights (RoR) of the people in different parts of the state. It is mainly because of the use of many vernacular languages even with duplications, the source said.
Different types of land use are also not clearly reflected on RoR. A number of kisams makes it difficult to calculate various benefits to be extended to farmers during natural calamities and payment of land compensations.
Similarly, nearly 750 different terms are being used for recording of the kind of land holdings. Simplification of kisams and satwas will help transfer fuzzy records to a clear and strong ownership over the land.
It was also decided at the meeting to have consultations at revenue division and district level before taking a final decision.