Move aimed at preventing disputes and unauthorised sale
Roque Dias
Margao: The Goa government has ordered urgent action to update records for all lawfully acquired state land to prevent disputes, unauthorised sales and administrative confusion.
Under Secretary for Revenue Vrukshika P Kauthankar issued a circular on April 22 directing all departments and land officials to ensure that state-acquired land is properly reflected in official records. These updates were previously delayed due to the non-initiation of mutation and partition proceedings.
According to the circular, several parcels of land legally acquired and possessed by the government are still not recorded as state property in revenue records. This gap has created administrative difficulties, exposed public land to disputes and in some cases, led to unauthorised transactions.
To rectify this, the government has made it mandatory for land-owning and land-acquiring departments to apply for mutation with mamlatdars. These applications must be supported by acquisition awards, possession certificates or affidavits from department heads where documents are missing. Officials have also been instructed to correct errors in survey numbers, village names and other details provided compensation has been paid and possession taken.
The circular places significant responsibility on mamlatdars and inspectors of Survey and Land Records to complete mutations, partitions, and record corrections within a fixed three-month timeframe. For old acquisitions, including pre-Liberation land blocks, field verification and identification certificates will be used to match historic records with current survey maps.
The government has warned that where state ownership was not reflected and illegal partitions, alienations or sales occurred, proceedings will be initiated under the Goa Land Revenue Code, 1968.
Furthermore, departments have been directed to build village-wise land banks of all properties they own or acquire.
The government decision follows observations that vast tracts of legally acquired land are currently reflected as private ownership due to systemic delays. The crackdown aims to protect state-owned lands amid recent high-profile land grab issues, with sources indicating that the government holds particularly large acquired parcels in the North Goa district.
