Promoters of industries, be it floriculture, horticulture, agro industries, starting educational institutions, group housing projects or community halls, can now breathe easy. They will no longer have to run from pillar to post for conversion of the agricultural land they have purchased.
Giving details of simplifying procedures for conversion of land, Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee told The Hindu that Section 109 of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act has been amended. With that, the Revenue Department has reduced the number of steps to be followed to acquire land for industrial purposes.
In what could be termed as a major reform to promote industrial activity, the Chief Secretary said a high-level official committee will approve the conversion, and there would be no requirement to approach the Revenue Department. This decision has been taken at the level of the Chief Minister, he said.
Earlier, those wishing to start industries had to run from one official to another, leading to inordinate delay in starting their projects. With this decision, several long-pending files would be cleared.
According to an official in the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Bangalore Urban district, land conversions take place depending upon the investment and requirement of the industry/project that is to be taken up.
Another reform that has been adopted is that nada kacheris can now issue income certificates and schools can issue caste certificates, instead of the taluk offices. This would help reduce congestion and obstruction of government work, Mr. Mukherjee said. These measures were initiated after a survey was conducted by IAS officer Annies Kanmani Joy, on why citizens visit the DCs, tahsildars and nada kacheris.
After her study of Mysore district, she submitted a report to the government suggesting doing away with unnecessary procedures.
