Revenue Minister gives a two-month deadline to tahsildars to dispose of bagair hukum applications

Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda warns officials of legal action for delays in disposing bagair hukum applications, sets two-month deadline.

Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Friday warned tahsildars and assistant commissioners that legal action would be initiated against those who fail to actively dispose of bagair hukum applications.

During a video conference with tahsildars and assistant commissioners of all districts on Saturday, the Minister gave the officials a two-month deadline to clear pending applications. “It is unacceptable that officials are still delaying the disposal of bagair hukum applications. A two-month deadline is being given to all tahsildars, extending until the end of November. If, within this period, proper disposal of applications and land allotment to eligible farmers are not completed, notices will be issued to the jurisdictional tahsildars, and legal action will follow,” he said.

“Officials should provide land title deeds to all those identified as eligible within the next one or two weeks. Inform me if MLAs are unavailable to hold bagair hukum committee meetings. I will coordinate with them to schedule the meetings,” he said.

“For the past one year, I have personally toured various districts and instructed officials to prioritise work related to bagair hukum land. However, some officials’  performance has been unsatisfactory and they are showing reluctance to work for poor farmers,” Mr. Gowda said.

“Around 14 lakh applications have been submitted under Forms 50, 53, and 57, most of which are ineligible. Therefore, officials must promptly reject ineligible applications and prioritise granting land to the eligible ones in October and November. At the end of this month, another video conference will be held to review the progress,” he said.

He also appreciated the tahsildar of Gundlupet taluk, where 15 eligible beneficiaries have already been identified and granted land. Additionally, he instructed that the remaining applications be processed swiftly.

Directing the tahsildars to avoid sending village accountants (VAs) unnecessarily into the field, as they are already burdened with administrative work, the Minister said, “Tahsildars can easily weed out ineligible bagair hukum applications based on the initial review. This work should be completed in the office. Do not assign unnecessary tasks to VAs, and avoid sending them into the field to verify ineligible applications,” he said.