G.O. (Ms.) No. 534, Free House-Site Pattas for Rural Poor, 2005

What the scheme covers

Government Order (Ms.) No. 534 of the Tamil Nadu Revenue Department creates a special rural house-site scheme for poor families without a house site. It links new settlements with rural development programmes so that roads, sanitation and other infrastructure can be provided.

The scheme operates in village panchayat and special village panchayat areas. Key location restrictions include:

• The existing ban on converting government land into house sites and issuing pattas within 32 kilometres of Chennai continues.
• Around district headquarters, the existing 16 kilometre restriction is relaxed so the scheme can operate in panchayat and special village panchayat areas beyond 8 kilometres.
• In the Nilgiris district, suitable private land that is not prone to landslides may be proposed by the District Collector to the government.

Who may qualify

Government Order (Ms.) No. 534 limits free house-site pattas to rural families with annual family income not exceeding Rs. 16,000. A homeless family assessed above that amount may still qualify if it appears on the Rural Development Department list of families living below the poverty line.

Where funds are insufficient, priority applies to:

• Families of persons killed or disabled while serving in the armed forces, including the Border Security Force.
• Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
• Released bonded labourers.
• Former service personnel.
• Landless poor families.

Beneficiaries must be selected across the district rather than being concentrated in only a few panchayats.

Land and patta conditions

Government Order (Ms.) No. 534 provides the following land rules:

• Each eligible family may receive up to 3 cents.
• Poor families occupying unobjectionable poramboke land may receive pattas at the same location, up to 3 cents per family.
• Pattas cannot be issued at objectionable poramboke locations such as water bodies, grazing land, cattle grounds, threshing grounds and burial grounds. Eligible occupants must be given sites elsewhere.
• Private land may be acquired or purchased through the stated government procedures where suitable poramboke land is unavailable.
• A layout must reserve land for roads and public facilities before pattas are issued. This reservation must not exceed 20 per cent of the total plot area.
• Pattas must be issued in the name of the female head of the family.

Selection and verification

Revenue officials must receive applications publicly in schools or panchayat buildings, in the presence of the panchayat president and Block Development Officer. Officials must check whether applicants already own a house or received housing through other welfare departments. The verified list must be compared with the below poverty line list, checked by an officer of Deputy Collector rank, and approved by the Gram Sabha.