Legal provisions for treating agricultural lands as non-agricultural in the final T.P

- Lokabhimukha Guidance - H.S. Patel IAS (Retd.)

- Subject to non-cultivation permission in Final T.P

The Land Revenue Act-1879 enacted 145 years ago during the British rule to regulate lands in Gujarat is still in force today and its original objectives were regulatory. (Regulatory Act) and all these regulatory laws have been framed by the British government after the monopoly of the East India Company after the rebellion of 1857. The Land Revenue Act is primarily intended to regulate the tenure rights of the peasants over land and the system of revenue collection. Due to today's urbanization, industrialization, commercial issues, the use of non-agricultural land has increased and if the reason behind this is analyzed, it is associated with human needs and economic activities, i.e. evolution or development of land use in the process of development. Land has changed drastically as natural resources along with immovable property is an important cadastral cover. Therefore, it is necessary to overhaul the regulatory provisions of the Land Revenue Act in the circumstances of changing the restrictive provisions. Basically, when the land revenue levied on agricultural land is used for non-agricultural (NA) purposes, the Collector has to take a formal action to determine the non-agricultural tax under Section-65 of the Land Revenue Act, but this action needs to be developed rapidly or required. In spite of bringing methods like simplification / time limit / online by giving a big form in wise use, permission is not given in time limit or hassle free form and no matter how much talk is given about Ease of Doing Business but permissions are not given in proactive form.

With the above background, I submitted to the then Revenue Minister Anandibehan Patel when he was the Collector, Rajkot, through the Revenue Department of the State Government, that the Master Development Plan has been approved by the State Government and T.P. Finalized in which the zone of land is determined. The area has been finalized following the legislative process and the provision of non-cultivation permission should be canceled and accordingly the Government first vide Revenue Department Resolution No. Bakhp-1006/425/K dt. With effect from 1/7/2008, it has been decided that only the Collector should determine non-agricultural land (Conversion Act) and the concerned Municipal Corporation / Municipality / Urban Area Development Authority should grant development permissions / construction permission as per the provision of GPMC / Municipality GDCR and after this decision, we will issue non-agricultural land. Discontinued map practice in approving with permission. As it happens now, the state government takes decisions with good intentions. But in implementation, where the interest of the government is threatened, the provision needs to be modified / followed. E.g. In case of new condition land, use cannot be started unless premium is paid.

But as mentioned, the circular issued by the revenue department on 1/7/2008 was mostly not being implemented and the collector was making non-cultivation orders as per the procedure under Section-65 of the Land Revenue Act, so again the revenue department dated Resolution No. Bakhp/102016/1166/K dated 2/9/2016 under Section-65 of Part-II Land Revenue Code in Final TP areas. It has been decided to give NA and NOC. On getting the information, it is stated that instead of giving NOC, the process of non-cultivation is being carried out by the Collector. There are actually two parts to this resolution. One is that the final T.P. According to the provision of Town Planning Act-1976, T.P. The proposal which has been finalized is sent to DILR for rectification. That is, the non-agricultural status of all the final TPs is to be determined (Up Front) and accordingly the revenue system has to update the sample no.-2 of the village, to collect the land revenue. The action to be taken in the first part has not, to my knowledge, taken place anywhere in the State, thus rendering the provisions inoperative.

Revenue Department of Govt. The second provision of the resolution dated 2/9/2016 is that the concerned TPO Town Planning Officer shall grant the development permission of the concerned FP after obtaining the NOC objection certificate from the Collector and such certificate shall be issued by the Collector within a time limit of 30 days. And the order under Section-65 for collection of non-agricultural land - converted land is to be made in which case the premium is to be collected on 21st day in case of new condition land. The concerned FP holder has to file a seven point affidavit before the TPO stating that the land is of old condition. The land is/is not subject to premium, the land is legally held, no interest of the government, no liens, not under legal proceedings, not subject to the control/permission of the Charity Commissioner, the land is not for public purpose so these issues verify the title of the land and the responsibility lies with the land holder. becomes Secondly, it is not possible to construct / develop only after obtaining the permission (non-cultivation) of Collector Shri 65 in the entire state.

In fact, if the above-mentioned point is followed, non-agricultural activities can also be regularized by taking the amount of shaped belt under Section-66/67, so the resolution of the Revenue Department of the State Government dated 2/9/2016 has been made with a good intention. But in the interest of the people or in the process of urbanization or development it is still not implemented and it is necessary that the Revenue Officers / Officials of the Town Planning Department implement in the interest of the public and show a people-oriented approach to administration.