Joseph Chacko, who hails from Kainkary, can heave a sigh of relief for having achieved what he has been demanding for three decades. He has been running from pillar to post in order to be able to pay tax for the land he has possessed for 29 years.
Despite approaching the taluk and village offices with his applications, he has been facing rejections owing to the fact that he did not possess the title deed for the land. The technicality prevented Mr. Chacko from gaining legal ownership of the plot.
Good news awaited him at the district-level revenue survey adalat held here on Monday as Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash directed the District Collector to initiate the necessary measures to ensure that Mr. Chacko was able to pay tax for the land.
Besides those seeking permission to pay tax, several petitions concerning land mutation and boundary fixation were submitted at the adalat for immediate disposal. Many of the petitioners raised the oft-repeated complaint of bureaucratic lapse that has obstructed the processing of the files.
Speaking at the programme, Kodikunnil Suresh, MP, pointed out that several decisions that were being taken by the Revenue Minister were not being implemented by the officials. “The common man was being put through great hardships to avail the services of the department. A lackadaisical attitude on the part of revenue officials could greatly hamper the image of the entire administrative machinery. The department must adopt a proactive stance towards resolving the problems of the public,” he said.
As many as 39,541 files had been disposed of prior to the adalat. The Revenue Minister received 1,155 fresh petitions at the adalat until 5 p.m. The programme appeared to progress until late on the day.
According to official sources, financial assistances to the tune of Rs. 4.53 crore were disbursed among 6,207 persons as of yet. Of these, assistances worth Rs. 3.65 crore were provided for 4,774 persons from the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund.
The Revenue Minister said the time-bound disposal of petitions received at the ongoing State-wide revenue survey adalats was the primary goal of the endeavour. Presiding over the launch of the district-level adalat at E.M.S. Stadium on Monday, Mr. Prakash said there were 5.30 lakh revenue-related complaints that remained pending in the State.
Inaugurating the adalat, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said the ongoing programme would provide great succour to a large number of people, who have been denied their reasonable benefits due to procedural technicalities.
Speaking on the occasion, K.C. Venugopal, MP, demanded steps to prevent certain groups, including corporate entities, from usurping vast tracts of land for tourism and other purposes.
