Odisha to simplify land classifications, ownership types

Time of India

4 hours ago

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Bhubaneswar: In an attempt to streamline land administration, the state govt plans to drastically reduce the number of land classifications and ownership categories, revenue and disaster management minister Suresh Pujari said here on Tuesday.
The state will bring down the existing 7,000-plus types of land classifications to just 27 categories through legislative amendments. Additionally, the govt aims to slash the current 3,000 different types of land ownership to double digits, the minister said.
"This simplification will make land administration more efficient and user-friendly to the advantage of both private landowners and govt authorities," Pujari said while speaking to the media.
The minister said similar types of land have been categorised into different "kisams" (types) while land ownership (Satwa) has also been classified into multiple categories, which were unnecessary.
These occurred because of the very old and archaic laws governing land, some dating back to pre-British era. With the changing times, the move to cut down the categories will simplify land administration process, both for land users and govt agencies, the minister said.
Pujari said the notification for reducing the land types will be out within the next few days. "For renaming the ownership pattern into double-digit numbers, consultations are ongoing with various stakeholders. This process will also be completed soon," he said.
While land ownership is broadly governed by the Orissa Land Reforms Act, 1960, the types are mentioned in various Acts such as the Orissa Estates Abolition Act, 1951; Transfer of Property Act, 1882; Angul Laws Regulation, 1936 and the Khondmals Laws Regulation, 1936; Madras Estates Land Act, 1908; Orissa Merged States (Laws) Act, 1950, among others.
Larger categories of land are agricultural, homestead, industrial, govt and forest land, and each has been divided into multiple classifications. While agricultural land is broadly divided into irrigated and non-irrigated, land in the govt's revenue records is recorded as 'maal', 'bahal', 'bhogra' and so on.
Similarly, govt land comes under categories such as 'gochar', 'rakhshit' or 'sarbasadharan', 'tanks', 'roads' and public places of worship, with all of them having different names. It's the same for land ownership with multiple classifications for each category.