Bengal cracks down on illegal land occupation, orders Panchayat transfers
Kolkata: The state government has sent directions to the district magistrates (DM) to prevent illegal occupation of government land. The Panchayats and Rural Development (P& RD) department, meanwhile, directed the DMs to transfer Panchayat officials posted for more than three years in the same place in their respective districts.
As per eight-point instructions, the actual physical character of a plot of land should be determined and the area utilised should be found out.
The area settled but not utilised should also be earmarked. The possession of the land should be assessed from field verification and document of the possession, if available, should be collected.
It should be further ascertained whether the area is free from any encumbrance or whether there are any legal issues with the land. It should also check whether patta of the land has already been settled.
On June 11, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had advocated zero tolerance against illegal occupation of government land and directed the administration to take immediate measures for freeing such land. Chief Secretary B P Gopalika recently asked the various government departments to make a list of land under their possession and submit the same. Soon after the Chief Minister’s meeting, the district administration was instructed to take measures for putting up signboards on government land stating that ‘this land belongs to the state government’ and also to rein in touts allegedly operating in BLRO and DLRO offices.
Meanwhile, state P &RD secretary P Ulaganathan has written to the DMs to ensure transfer of GP (Gram Panchayat) level officials and staff on definite interval with the objective to improve efficiency & delivery of services and to reduce public complaints,
“Before elections some districts carried out transfers and still many GPs have officials posted for more than 3 years in the same place. Kindly carry out the instructions as attached. We will soon take details of officers and their tenure of posting in the same place,” the instruction from P & RD secretary read.
