April 7, 2014
1000 days at a glance: Land and land reforms
Land has been a bone of contention in the past in West Bengal. Forcible land acquisition in SIngur and Nandigram, among other places, gave rise to several movements against the then Left Front Government. After the new Ma, Mati, Manush Government came into power it was decided that no land will be acquired by the government for private companies. With a new land bank, provision of land for industries is also not a problem.
Here are the achievements of the land and land reforms department:
Distribution of pattas: During the last two-and-a-half years, the state government has created an unparalled precedence by distributing pattas to 1,92,000 thousand landless families. In this regard it is worth mentioning that while 5670 and 37,723pattas were distributed during 2009-10 and 2010-11, respectively, during the tenure of the present government, a record number of 1,06,264 landless families were distributed pattas.
Revenue collection: While the revenue collection of the Land and Land Reforms Department was only Rs 380 crore during 2011-12, it has increased to Rs 480 crore during 2012-13. During 2013-14, up to the mouth of January, land revenue collection amounted to Rs 312.27 crore. At the end of the current financial year, it will exceed Rs 500 crore.
E-governance initiative: People can easily access maps of landed property and particulars relating to titles on the website of the Land and Land Reforms Department. At the same time common people can now directly collect land records (parcha) within a few hours through over-the-counter service under the e-governance initiative from BLLR offices at the block level, which could not be thought of during the past.
Providing land for setting up industries: Decision has been taken to relax land ceiling for setting up 15 types of industries subject to the condition of purchasing land on the basis of applications of the entrepreneurs for setting up industries through transparent procedures as per Section 14Y of West Bengal Land Reforms Act.
Besides, in order to assist earmarking of suitable land for setting up of industries, a Land Use Map has been prepared where single-crop land, multi-crop land and densely populated areas have been marked.
Click here for the complete list of achievements.
