Bhoodan Lands, Involvement of District Administration Required, Instructions Issued

What the letter does

The Revenue Department issued Letter No. 34671/LR.I(1)/2012-1 dated 30 November 2012 because it considered that Bhoodan lands were not being adequately protected by district administrations. The letter describes Bhoodan lands as government lands, some of which are valuable, and calls for greater involvement by district revenue staff.

The letter follows earlier instructions from the Principal Secretary and Commissioner of Land Reforms to District Collectors. Those instructions applied to all District Collectors except Chennai and stated that work concerning Bhoodan lands would be reviewed during periodic review meetings of District Revenue Officers.

Administrative responsibility

Government Order (Ms.) No. 144 of the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department dated 11 October 2006 transferred responsibility for Bhoodan lands from the Rural Development Department to the Land Reforms Department.

The staffing arrangements described in the Revenue Department letter include:

• Existing Bhoodan Board staff from the Rural Development Department could continue until Revenue Department or Land Reforms Department staff were posted, or until the existing staff were transferred or promoted.
• Headquarters vacancies were to be filled by Land Reforms Department staff.
• District Bhoodan Inspector posts were to be filled by Assistants from the relevant Collectorate.
• Three of the nine Bhoodan Inspector posts were vacant when the letter was issued.
• District Collectors were expected to fill vacant posts using a list of Assistants from the revenue side.

Who is affected

The Revenue Department letter is directed at district administration and revenue staff responsible for managing and safeguarding Bhoodan lands. It requires officials to:

• involve revenue staff and revenue units fully in Bhoodan land work;
• give district-level attention to the protection of Bhoodan lands;
• issue suitable instructions to subordinate officials; and
• send an action taken report to the Government.

For buyers, owners and professionals, the letter shows that Bhoodan land matters are handled through the Land Reforms Department and district revenue administration. It is an administrative instruction about staffing, oversight and protection. It does not set out a sale, transfer, approval or ownership determination procedure for individual properties.