Land revolution: CM takes mutation to cyber space

Kolkata: The state cabinet on Monday made the entire land mutation process online in a significant stride towards putting an end to any harassment for common people.

"We have taken a revolutionary decision in today's (Monday) cabinet meeting. People will not have to go to the BLRO office anymore for mutation of land. Mutation will be done online and so buying and selling of land will become much easier and faster," Banerjee told reporters after the cabinet meeting.

The Chief Minister maintained that the move will benefit nearly 12 lakh people. "Mutation is inevitable after buying and selling of land but there have been complaints of people being harassed by the brokers. So we decided to make the entire process online," Banerjee added.

She pointed out that her government has already waived off mutation fees for farmers, so that the purchase and selling of farmland becomes easier.

The process of online mutation will also help keep the characteristics of the land intact. "The Chief Minister has asked the land officials to frame new laws but for that we needed the entire land records. So we introduced a new system – 'Records of Rights', through which the document parcha, where the original name of the owner of the plot is mentioned, was digitised in all 341 blocks of the state," a senior official of the Land and Land Reforms department said.

Banerjee also announced that the state government has decided to transfer possession rights to the people of the Khasmahal areas in Midnapore and Kharagpur. "We will regularise their rights of land which is spread across an area of 1,618 acres. 1 lakh people will be benefitted through the move," she said.

The people in the Khasmahal areas have been living there for several decades but are still in the dark about possession of land.

The Chief Minister maintained that the state government has handed over land rights to as many as 462 families in Alipurduar and the process of doing so for more people in the district is underway.

"The land that belongs to the Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation department will be handed over to its rightful owner. There is also a part of land owned by the Railways. We will urge them to do the needful," she added.

The Chief Minister also announced that the cabinet has approved a 10 megawatt solar power plant to be set up at Kharagpur.