Denying any lapse by the Revenue Department while issuing the order that permitted logging in assigned land, Revenue Minister K. Rajan has said no official found to have been involved in the illegal felling of protected trees will be spared from action.
Speaking to media persons during a meet-the-press programme here on Thursday, Mr. Rajan dismissed reports of the Principal Secretary (Revenue) having found faults in the government order.
According to him, the revenue order did not permit cutting scheduled trees including teak, rosewood, sandalwood and ebony that were vested with the government. However, it was found to have been misinterpreted in Muttil South village. The government did not hesitate from suspending the village officer after the illegality had come to light. None of the other 45 villages in Wayanad district had witnessed any foul play, he said.
Mr. Rajan said the government had targeted the completion of the digital resurvey in the State during its term. For this, the government would seek the support of the Central Survey of India to complete the project by employing the Continuously Operating Reference System (CORS). Twenty eight CORS stations would be established in the State. Steps were underway to allocate around ₹8 crore from the Plan fund for the purpose.
The completion of the digital survey would enable the government to integrate land registration, mutation and preparation of land sketch, which were currently undertaken separately, he said.
The Minister said the government would complete the digitalisation of basic tax register (BTR) and ‘thandapper’ across the State within 100 days. In addition, 12,000 people would be provided title deeds and purchase certificates during the period.
In order to address the problem of delays in service delivery, the department is also set to embark on ‘Mission 2021-2026’ that will involve constant review of its activities. Its central team will meet every Wednesday, while Collectors, Deputy Collectors and Sub Collectors will meet every month. Tahsildars and deputy tahsildars will convene similar meetings once in every two months to assess the progress of various works.
The Institute of Land and Disaster Management will soon assume a greater role of training revenue officials from village officers to Deputy Collectors and Sub Collectors on the relevant laws and activities of the department.
