Land conversion made simpler

The process of conversion of land from agricultural to non-agricultural use in Dharwad district may now be a simpler affair. Thanks to deputy commissioner Darpan Jain’s initiative, the process will be fast and transparent. The applicants can get their files disposed off within 30 days. The new methodology will come into force with immediate effect.

The number of documents supplied with the application has also been cut. The applicant need not approach any officer for the records of their rights and no-objection certificates. He can obtain them from the ‘Nemmadi Kendras’.

Explaining his initiative, DC Darpan Jain said, the land cases are dealt with under section 95 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act 1964 and the section provides for granting the conversion of land within 45 days. However, the present method caused undue delays and involved a number of not very relevant documents. The system did not provide any means to the applicant to know the status of his application.

“It is proposed to re-engineer the process. The decision will be taken on the spot in the presence of the applicant,” Darpan said. According to the new plan, all applications for Hubli and Dharwad taluks will now be collected at a counter established at the DC’s office. Earlier, the applicants were required to submit their applications at the tahsildar’s office and from there the applications would be moved to the DC’s office. The transmission took a longer time. The DC said, nearly 90 per cent of the applications belong to Hubli and Dharwad taluks. For other three taluks, the applications will be collected at the respective tahsildar’s office.

The application should be accompanied by the latest record of their right, certificate showing the latest mutation, consent from joint owners, a rough map and an affidavit. There is no need for producing records of rights/mutations for 25-30 years and a no-objection certificate from gram panchayat and other departments.

The details of the applications would be fed into a computer and the applications will be scrutinised with regards to the checklist or the documents required. The applicant would be given an endorsement for receiving the application indicating the date and time at which the decision would be taken on the application.

Darpan said, the applications received during a week would be placed for consideration/final decision the next Friday at 11 AM at an open session.

After the decision is given on the spot on Friday, the applicant will be given two weeks to pay the conversion fine and submit a challan to the DC’s office. Immediately after receiving the challan, the conversion will be granted the next Friday and the copy of the order would be handed over to the applicant. “With the above methodology, it is proposed to dispose off the applications received within 30 days as against the outer limit of 45 days prescribed in the Act,” Darpan said. In order to enable the applicant to know the status of his application, the applications will be fed into a system and uploaded on the Dharwad district website (www.dharwad.nic.in).

This process will make the procedure simple by cutting time and fixing accountability. The applicant would know the action taken and objections if any, so that it is within the statutory time period.

While there are nearly 400 applications pending with the DC’s office, the new system may help dispose off all the cases within a month. The inflow of application is 60 to 70 per month in the district with 90 per cent of them coming from Dharwad and Hubli taluks.