Bawankule Delegates Land Regularisation Powers To District Collectors
The decision is expected to provide relief to citizens and farmers who were often required to visit Mantralaya even for minor technical violations related to land terms and conditions: Reports
MUMBAI: Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Saturday delegated powers related to the regularisation of breaches of conditions for residential and agricultural properties from the revenue minister to district collectors. A gazette notification has been issued to this effect. Mr. Bawankule said the move would spare citizens from travelling to Mantralaya for such matters.
The decision is expected to provide relief to citizens and farmers who were often required to visit Mantralaya even for minor technical violations related to land terms and conditions. Such procedures frequently led to delays, financial burden and administrative inconvenience.
Mr. Bawankule said powers related to the regularisation of breaches of terms and conditions had been delegated to district collectors. “All the powers of the revenue minister have been delegated to district collectors. The cases related to breach of conditions in the district will not come up in Mantralaya. The regularisation of farms and houses will be done at the district level,” he said.
According to the gazette notification, district collectors have been empowered to dispose of condition breach cases involving penalties of up to Rs 10 lakh, while divisional commissioners will handle cases involving penalties between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 20 lakh.
Officials said cases involving penalties exceeding Rs 20 lakh would continue to be decided at the Mantralaya level. “As cases of breach of conditions have been increasing across the State, amendments were made to the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code. Subsequently, the official gazette notification regarding the same has been issued,” officials said.
Officials added that citizens whose transactions had been stalled due to technical difficulties would now receive relief. “Before taking this decision, discussions were held with citizens. The objective behind this move is to ensure that citizens do not have to visit the Mantralaya for minor issues,” they said.
In a statement, Mr. Bawankule said, “Until now, there was no clear legal provision for regularising breaches of conditions related to lands granted by the government under occupancy rights or lease agreements. This process was being carried out solely on the basis of government circulars. However, due to the absence of a proper legal framework, many cases were pending in courts. This shortcoming has now been addressed.”
