Social Audit of Land distribution Scheme.
Place: Ranimunda and Birighat of Khariar Block
Date:13 & 29/12/2009
Process adopted:
1. Information from the Revenue department on land distribution obtained.
2. Collected information from the beneficiaries on the status of the land allotted to him/her. Compared information obtained from Tahasil to find out discrepancies.
3. Social Audit at Panchayat level conducted involving the Revenue officials and other stakeholders to make the land distribution programme effective.
4. Follow up action undertaken: Immediate identification and demarcation of land in favour of the beneficiaries was taken up by the Revenue Officials.
Social audits of land distribution were conducted at Ranimunda and Birighat Panchayats of Khariar Block in Nuapada district respectively on 13th and 29th of December 2009. A total number of 124 People of 4 villages of Ranimunda Panchayat had participated in the programme conducted at Ranimu.nda. In the programme of Birighat the number of participants was 108. Tahasildar and the Revenue Inspector / Amin were present from the government side. Two advocates had also been invited to go in to the complexities of the cases. The other participants were the Journalists, Lecturers, NGO personnel and Social Activists. The objectives of conducting this programme were,
• To discuss about the status of implementation of land distribution scheme of the government and efforts of the Government officials to implement the same.
• To understand how land distribution has been helpful in increasing socio-economic status of the landless house holds in the villages.
• To review how the land distribution schemes have achieved its primary objective of increasing access of the landless households to land.
• To involve the government officials especially of the revenue department to take action to help people to have access to the lands that they have been allotted.
Social audits in all the villages of Ranimunda and Birighat Panchayats had already been conducted prior to the Panchayat level programmes. Informations gathered at village level social audit programmes had been consolidated and all the land related problems had been placed in 5 groups,
1. Beneficiaries who have got pattas of homestead lands in 1989 (4 decimals each) but have not seen the same. They have requested the Revenue officials several times for identification and demarcation of lands but have failed to get their support. 70 such cases were identified
2. Beneficiaries / households who had got patta of the lease lands and have the lands demarcated but are not in possession of the said lands due to encroachment by some other farmers in the village. 9 such cases were there in the Panchayat.
3. Beneficiaries who have been shown homestead land by the revenue officials more than a decade back but the pattas have not been issued to them.
4. Beneficiaries who have got patta of lease land but have not seen the land. They had paid rent of the lands for 3 years but after the land settlement operations the rent is no more taken from them.
5. Landless households (sukhbasi) who neither have homestead nor agriculture land. 34 households were identified landless.
All the above mentioned issues were discussed in detail in the Panchayat Level Social Audits. It was found that the administration has not initiated any step in the past years to identify and demarcate lands of the beneficiaries. The R.Is. and the Tahasildar have visited Ranimunda and Birighat villages just before the Social Audit programmes and demarcated lands of a total of 83 beneficiaries.
The following decisions and steps were taken,
1. In the case of non-identification of 4 decimals homestead land it was found that, the beneficiaries have not adopted the due procedure. They have just asked the R.I. for identification and demarcation and the R.I has not responded.
The Tahasildar instructed the Revenue Inspector present in the social audit to demarcate the lands of these beneficiaries. All the 70 beneficiaries were given the possession of the lands immediately.
2. The beneficiaries in group two were assured of demarcation and eviction of encroachment through police protection.
3. In case of the beneficiaries in group 3 it was decided that the people will apply for land immediately and the plots in their possession will be settled in their name if they are homesteadless.
4. The case in group 4 could not be verified immediately because that needed a Hal and Sabik comparison to ascertain status of the said lands. The lands might have reverted to the government Khata in the last settlement. It was thus decided that if the Kisam (type) of the said lands are still unchanged, then the beneficiaries would be given the possession and due steps would be taken to update documents. But in case the Kisam (type) are already changed to reserve categories then the beneficiaries would be given some other lands in the village.
5. The homesteadless households were asked to file application in the Tahasil immediately. It was assured that steps would be initiate immediately.
