Letter No. 28725/நிமு.1(22/2000-22, Clarifications on House Site Pattas

The Government of Tamil Nadu Revenue Department issued Letter No. 28725/நிமு.1(22/2000-22 on 4 July 2000 to guide district collectors in implementing the house site patta scheme under G.O. (Ms.) No. 168, Revenue Department, dated 27 March 2000. The guidance concerns people who have built houses and are living on government poramboke land that the government does not require.

What the guidance governs

Letter No. 28725 explains how district authorities should inspect land, assess eligibility and deal with proposals already pending before higher authorities. It also addresses occupation records, land valuation, land entered in the Prohibitory Order Book and applications involving government employees.

Inspection and approval process

The Revenue Department gives the following directions:

• The district collector should conduct a field inspection with the district revenue officer and the officer of the department concerned with the land.
• A separate inspection by the revenue divisional officer is not required when the district revenue officer inspects and records field notes. The revenue divisional officer may still accompany the inspection.
• After field inspection, resolutions should be obtained from the relevant local bodies before pattas are granted on eligibility grounds.
• District collectors need not wait for earlier land transfer proposals sent to the government or the Commissioner of Land Administration to be returned before proceeding under G.O. (Ms.) No. 168.
• Proposals pending with the government, and cases previously rejected by the government, may be reviewed under the later instructions and guidelines.

Evidence, valuation and restricted records

Letter No. 28725 recognises that some occupations may not have been recorded or issued a B Memo. In those cases, house tax receipts, electricity payment receipts and voter lists may be considered as evidence.

Where no guideline register value is available for poramboke land, the value of nearby patta land may be used for assessment.

Government land within municipal limits that is entered in the Prohibitory Order Book may be removed from that book for this special scheme. The district collector must personally verify why the land was originally entered before deciding on removal. This authority applies only to the scheme.

Important exclusions and administration

Government employees cannot have their encroachments regularised because the government employee conduct rule cited in the letter prohibits them from encroaching on government land.

District collectors were instructed to act quickly towards the scheme target and to send monthly progress reports through the Commissioner of Land Administration.