G.O. (Ms.) No. 579, House-site Patta Special Scheme Extension

What the document does

The Government of Tamil Nadu, Revenue Department, through G.O. (Ms.) No. 579 dated 3 October 2008, extends the one-time special house-site patta scheme for one further year, until 30 September 2009. The scheme had previously been extended until 30 September 2008.

The purpose is to regularise eligible occupations where people have built houses and are living on government land, and to grant house-site pattas. The extension is intended to cover cases not yet processed, especially those in corporation and municipal areas.

Who may be affected

G.O. (Ms.) No. 579 may affect people occupying government land with houses, provided their cases satisfy the scheme's eligibility requirements. It also directs the Principal Secretary and Commissioner of Land Administration and all District Collectors to take the required action.

The document contains two different descriptions of the occupation period:

• Its opening summary refers to people who have built houses and lived on government land for more than five years.
• Its background states that the original scheme applied to people who had occupied such land for more than ten years and could provide supporting evidence.

The document does not explain how these two descriptions interact. It mainly extends the processing period rather than fully restating every eligibility condition.

Key provisions and process

G.O. (Ms.) No. 579 records the following features of the scheme:

• Eligibility is considered by a committee headed by the District Collector.
• Resolutions from the relevant local bodies are to be obtained.
• Regularisation and issue of a house-site patta depend on the occupant's eligibility.
• Occupations on objectionable government poramboke land are excluded. The document specifically identifies waterbody poramboke and highway poramboke among these lands.
• Additional time was considered necessary for remaining cases and for occupations on land under panchayat control.

The Commissioner of Land Administration reported that 614,384 occupations had been identified in an April 2007 survey. By 15 September 2008, 193,282 had been regularised, leaving about 421,000 cases. The document also records that withdrawal notifications concerning Nagapattinam, Dindigul and Ramanathapuram districts had been sent for publication in the district gazettes, and that regularisation on panchayat-controlled land could proceed only after publication.