Land

REVENUE DEPARTMENT

POLICY NOTE

2010-2011

Demand No.41 - Revenue Department

Demand No.51 - Relief on Account of Natural Calamities

I. PERIASAMY MINISTER FOR REVENUE AND HOUSING

©

Government of Tamil Nadu

2010

REVENUE DEPARTMENT POLICY NOTE

2010-2011

REVENUE DEPARTMENT

POLICY NOTE 2010-2011

Chapter No. Contents Pages

I Introduction 1-5 Revenue Administration, Disaster Management and Mitigation Department

1. Revenue Administration 7-15 2. Social security schemes 15-20 3. Redressal of Public Grievances 20-25

II

4. Natural Calamities and Disaster Management

25-40

Land Administration 1. Land Assignment 41-47 2. Land Lease, Transfer & Alienation 48-51 3. Eviction of Encroachments 51-53

III

4. Land Acquisition 53-56 Survey & Settlement 1. Survey 57-64

IV

2. Settlement 64-68 Land Reforms 1. Land Reforms and Ceiling 69-74 2. Tenancy Laws 75-79 3. Tamil Nadu Agricultural Labourers

Welfare Board 79-83

V

4. Urban Land Ceiling & Urban Land Tax 83-90

Index

CHAPTER - I

INTRODUCTION

The Land Revenue had been the main source of

revenue for the State since the Sangam age. The Land tax

had been levied based on the type of the Land and the crop

yield. At times, when the land tax was levied exorbitantly the

scholars and the poets had played the advisory role by

pointing out the defects to the King and had set the

Government on the right path.

It is pertinent to note that even in the Sangam age, the

poet Piciranthaiyar had given advice to the Pandia King

Arivudai Nambi about the taxation system in his poem in

'Pura Nanuru'

Cut the paddy corn

When it is ripe,

And make it into balls of rice,

And the yield of a small field,

Barely a fraction of a cent,

Will feed an elephant

For many a day

2But if the brute

Should step into a field,

And trampling eat,

Even a hundred acres

Will not serve,

For the feet will spoil

More than the mouth could eat.

So, if a wise king

Levies his taxes justly,

His kingdom will yield him millions,

And will greatly prosper as well.

"An elephant can be fed for many days if the paddy

grown even in a single 'Maa' of land (a fraction of an acre) is

cut and balls of rice is made properly. But if the elephant

enters itself into the field, even if the Land is very large, then

the paddy trampled by the elephant will be much more than

the paddy actually consumed by the elephant. Similarly, if a

wise King collects tax from the people following the ethics of

taxation then the nation will develop through accumulation of

wealth in crore."

3 But during the British Colonial Rule ethics of taxation

was given up and the tax was increased upto half of the yield

following the 'Half-net-principle' with the sole aim of

increasing the revenue. As a result Ryots were affected

severely. Subsequently, though the 'Ryotwari Settlement' was

introduced by abolishing the system of tax collection through

'Zamindars' and 'Poligars'; it did not ameliorate the burden of

tax on Ryots.

With the establishment of the Democratic Government

after Independence, a number of land reforms acts were

enacted and various public welfare measures were

introduced. In the changed situtation, land tax came to be

treated not as a source of revenue for the State, but as yet

another documentary evidence of rights and ownership of

the pattardars and users of the land.

The Tamil Nadu Government which is pioneer in the

Country in implementing land reform measures and various

public welfare measures, brought out a major reform last

4year in the land revenue assessment in the interest of

farmers. The Government simplified the procedure and

drastically reduced the land revenue for the wet land from

Rs.50 to Rs.5 per acre and for dry land from Rs.15 to Rs.2

per acre and this nominal land revenue is being collected

from the Fasli Year 1419, providing greater happiness to the

farmers.

Thus with the passage of time, Revenue Department

came to be treated not as a department earning Revenue for

State but as a 'Public Administration' Department maintaining

Law and Order at the District Level besides implementation

of various important schemes and Land Administration and

Land reform measures.

Further this Department acts as 'a friend in need' for the

people by mitigating the sufferings of the people whenever

they are affected by natural calamities like cyclone, heavy

rains, flood, earth quake, drought, land slide and Tsunami.

5In Revenue Department, at the State level, the works

are monitored by the Heads of Departments (i.e.,)

Commissioner of Revenue Administration, Commissioner of

Land Administration, Commissioner of Land Reforms and

Commissioner of Survey and Settlement. At the district level,

under the leadership of the District Collector, revenue

functions are discharged by various functionaries including

District Revenue Officers, Revenue Divisional Officers,

Tahsildars, Revenue Inspectors, Village Administrative

Officers and other supporting staff.

By adopting Information Technology, Modern

Management Techniques, Digitisation of Field Maps, Web

based services, Touch Screen KIOSKS and Common Service

Centres Revenue Department continues to serve the public

effectively.

6

7CHAPTER - II

Revenue Administration, Disaster Management and Mitigation Department 2.1 Revenue Administration

The Revenue Administration, Disaster Management and

Mitigation Department deals with a variety of important

activities in the State. The Land Revenue collection,

mitigation and management of natural calamities, and other

disasters, issue of various certificates, implementation of

various Social Assistance Schemes and public welfare

schemes are handled by this Department through well

established District, Divisional, Taluk and Village level

Administrative units. The officials of this department play a

key role in redressing the grievances and problems of the

public.

2.2 Reorganisation of Administrative Units

As announced in the Assembly during the Revenue

Demands two new Revenue Divisions, nine new Taluks and

8six new Firkas have been formed during 2009-2010 as

mentioned below:-

New Revenue Divisions Situated in District 1. Udumalaipettai Tiruppur 2. Tambaram Kancheepuram New Taluks

1. Tiruverumbur Tiruchirappalli 2. Kuthalam Nagapattinam 3. Kurinjipadi Cuddalore 4. Kadavur Karur 5. Madavaram Tiruvallur 6. Madathukulam Tiruppur 7. Alandur Kancheepuram 8. Sholinganallur Kancheepuram 9. Ambur Vellore New Firkas

1. Chitlapakkam Kancheepuram 2. Madambakkam Kancheepuram 3. Pammal Kancheepuram

4. Pallavaram Kancheepuram

5. Sholinganallur Kancheepuram

6. Medavakkam Kancheepuram Besides this Athur and Dindigul Taluks in Dindigul

District have been reorganised, by annexing the

Reddiyarchathiram Panchayat Union comprising of

Dharumathupatti, Palaganoothu and Reddiyarchathiram

Firkas of Athur Taluk with Dindigul Taluk.

Ikkaraipoluvampatti (North) and Ikkaraipoluvampatti (South)

9villages in Coimbatore (South) Taluk have also been

reorganised into Ikkaraipoluvampatti and Semmedu Villages.

At present there are 32 Districts, 76 Revenue Divisions,

220 Taluks, 1127 Firkas and 16564 Revenue Villages in the

State.

2.3 Filling up of vacant posts in Revenue Department

From the year 2001 to 2005, the vacant posts of

Assistants, Junior Assistants, Typists, Steno-Typists coming

under Ministerial service and other posts such as Drivers,

Office Assistants, Watchmen and Telephone Operators could

not be filled up by this Department in view of the ban orders

for direct recruitment. Consequent on the lifting of ban

orders by the Government in 2006 Revenue Department

issued orders to fill up as many as 8165 posts under various

categories through Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission

and other sources, out of which 4971 posts have been filled

up. Effective action is being taken to fill up the remaining

vacancies.

102.4 Village Administration

(i) Appointment of Village Administrative Officers

Village Administration continues to be the mainstay of

the District Revenue Administration. The system of part-time

Village Officers was abolished with effect from 14.11.1980

and full time Village Administrative Officers were appointed in

all the Revenue Villages in the State. These posts were

brought under the purview of the Tamil Nadu Public Service

Commission. There are 12,506 sanctioned posts of Village

Administrative Officers in the State.

Recently the Government in G.O. (Ms.) No.123,

Revenue Department, dated 11.3.2010 ordered to recruit

1576 Village Administrative Officers to fill up the vacancies

that arose in the years 2007-2010 through direct recruitment.

In addition 525 vacancies are ordered to be filled up by

Compassionate Ground Appointment.

11(ii) Village Assistants

The Government adopts a Policy to provide atleast one

Village Assistant for each Revenue Village. Accordingly in

G.O. (Ms.) No.155, Revenue Department, dated 26.3.2010

the Government have ordered to fill up 2174 post of Village

Assistants in the existing vacancies, out of which 25% will be

filled up through Compassionate Ground Appointment.

2.5 Office Buildings

Consequent on the formation of new districts, Master

Plan Complexes are being established in the district

headquarters consisting of Collectorate and other offices, and

residential accommodation, etc., to achieve functional

efficiency. Every year, based on the need, construction of

new buildings, additional office buildings, residential places

and other infrastructural needs including repair of revenue

buildings are assessed and the required assistance is being

provided by the Government.

(i) Collectorate Buildings

Of the 32 Districts in the State, 30 Districts have

12Collectorate housed in Government buildings. The

Government have sanctioned Rs.25 Crore for reconstruction

of Collectorate and other Government Offices at Salem. The

works are in progress and likely to be completed by

September 2010. For the new Collectorate of Ariyalur District

Government have sanctioned Rs.12.88 crores and the work is

in progress. The Government have also sanctioned Rs.12.00

crore for construction of new Collectorate of Tiruchirapalli

and the work is likely to be completed by April 2011.

The Collectorate of the newly created Tiruppur District,

is now functioning temporarily in the Tiruppur Cotton Market

Buildings and the selection of site for Master Plan Complex

will be finalised shortly.

(ii) Buildings for Revenue Divisional Officers

The State has 76 Revenue Divisional Offices, of which

73 Revenue Divisional Offices are accommodated in

Government buildings. The Government have sanctioned a

sum of Rs.85.25 lakh for the construction of office building

for the newly formed Harur Revenue Division and the work

13will be completed by June 2010. For the remaining 2 newly

formed Tambaram and Udamalaipettai Revenue Divisions

suitable sites will be selected shortly for construction of new

buildings.

(iii) Taluk Office Buildings

There are 220 Taluk Offices in the State of which 204

Taluk Offices are housed in Government buildings. Of the

balance 16 Taluk Offices, works are under progress in 4 Taluk

Offices, namely Kundha (The Nilgiris District), Kariyapatti

(Virudhunagar District), Vazhapadi (Salem District) and

Paramakudi (Ramanathapuram District). For the remaining

newly formed 12 Taluk Offices the District Collectors

concerned have been requested to select suitable sites and

send the proposals for construction.

(iv) Office-cum-Residential Quarters for Revenue Inspectors

Of the 1127 Revenue Inspectors, 1099 Revenue

Inspectors have been provided with Office-cum-Residential

Quarters. For the remaining 28 Revenue Inspectors, the

14District Collectors have been requested to select suitable sites

and send proposals for construction of buildings.

(v) Buildings for Village Administrative Officers

Of the 12,506 Village Administrative Officers, 12,074

Village Administrative Officers have been provided with office

buildings and 226 Village Administrative Officers have been

provided with Office- cum- residence building. Action will be

pursued to provide buildings to the remaining 206 VAOs in a

phased manner.

2.6 Issuance of Certificates

The Revenue Department issues the following

certificates, which are required by the public for various

purposes:-

(i) Community Certificate

(ii) Nativity / Residential Certificate

(iii) Income Certificate

(iv) Nationality Certificate

(v) Legal Heirship Certificate

(vi) Solvency Certificate

(vii) Birth / Death Certificate

15(viii) Destitute Widow Certificate

(ix) Inter-caste Marriage Certificate

(x) Certificate Regarding Loss of School Certificate

(xi) Deserted Women Certificate

(xii) Consolidated Certificates for getting Assistance

by unemployed persons

(xiii) 'No Graduate in the family' certificate

(xiv) Family in indigent condition certificate 2.7 Social Security Schemes

In order to provide social security to the old aged and

destitute persons in the State, the Government is paying

Rs.400/- per month per person under the following Pension

schemes:-

Sl. No. Name of the Scheme

No. of beneficiaries

(as on 31.3.2010)

Centrally assisted Scheme

1 Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (From 19.11.2007)

9,19,069

State Schemes

1 Destitute Physically Handicapped Pension Scheme (From 1.11.1974)

1,08,335

16

Sl. No. Name of the Scheme

No. of beneficiaries

(as on 31.3.2010)

2 Destitute Widows Pension Scheme (From 1.6.1975)

6,30,128

3 Destitute Agricultural Labourers Pension Scheme (From 15.3.1981)

1,89,348

4 Destitute/Deserted wives Pension Scheme (From 25.4.1986)

1,03,010

5 Pension to Un-married poor women of age 50 years and above (From 1.7.2008)

11,860

Total 19,61,750

The Special Tahsildar (Social Security Scheme) is the

coordinating officer at Taluk level who coordinates these

scheme activities. The Pension amount is disbursed to the

beneficiaries through Money Orders.

The Government of India have launched two new

pension schemes on 19.2.2009 viz., Indira Gandhi National

Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS) and Indira Gandhi

National Disability Pension Scheme (IGNDPS) in addition to

the above mentioned schemes. Necessary guidelines have

17been issued to the District Collectors by the Social Welfare

Department.

Dhoties and Sarees are distributed to the pensioners

twice a year during Pongal and Deepavali Festivals. During

this year’s Pongal festival 14,52,413 sarees and 4,66,556

dhoties were distributed to the Pensioners.

The beneficiaries are permitted to draw rice, free of cost

at the following scales:-

i) 4 Kgs. of fine variety rice per head per month

for those who do not take meals at the

Nutritious Meal Programme Centers.

ii) 2 Kgs. of fine variety rice per head per month

for those who take meals at the Nutritious

Meal Programme Centers.

(i) Accident Relief Scheme

Under this scheme, a sum of Rs.15,000/- is granted to

the families of artisans in Villages including workers engaged

in 44 Categories of notified employment who die while they

are on their job as per G.O. Ms. No.471, Finance

Department, dated 23.5.1989. Also, an amount of Rs.7500/-

18to Rs.15,000/- is granted as relief to the workers, who

sustain injuries or physical impairment depending upon the

nature of injuries. This scheme is also covered by the

National Social Assistance Programme and out of Rs.15,000/-

, the Central Government’s share is Rs.10,000/- and the

State's share is Rs.5,000/-.

During the financial year 2009-2010, 443 persons have

benefited under this scheme.

(ii) Distress Relief Scheme

Under this scheme, a sum of Rs.10,000/- is sanctioned

as grant by the Government of India, to the households

below the poverty line, on the death of the primary bread

winner, as per G.O.(Ms.) No.470, Finance Department, dated

23.5.1989. This scheme is covered by the National Social

Assistance Programme and is supported with Additional

Central Assistance by the Government of India.

During the financial year 2009-2010, 13,925 persons

have benefited under this scheme.

192.8 Distribution of Free sarees / dhoties

Under this scheme, every year during Pongal, (Tamil

New Year) sarees / dhoties are distributed free of cost to

those living below the poverty line. During this year 160.00

Lakh sarees and 159.51 Lakh dhoties were distributed to the

beneficiaries. Details of sarees / dhoties distributed during

the past few years are given below:-

Number Issued (in lakh) Year

Sarees Dhoties

2006 100.60 84.56

2007 155.41 155.27

2008 160.23 159.64

2009 159.44 158.80

2010 160.00 159.51

2.9 Distribution of Free Colour Television Sets With a view to provide recreation to women and also to

facilitate improvement of their knowledge base, this scheme

was introduced by the Government in the year 2006. This

scheme is being implemented effectively.

20 Government have issued orders for the procurement of

1 Crore 52 Lakh and 80 Thousand Colour Television Sets in

five phases. So far 1 Crore 12 Lakh and 37 Thousand sets

have been distributed and the remaining 40 Lakh and 43

Thousand sets will be distributed before the end of this year.

2.10 Redressal of Public Grievances

(i) Mass Contact Programme

This programme was started in the year 1969 with the

aim of redressing the grievances of the public in a speedy

and effective manner. Under this programme District

Collectors, District Revenue Officers, Revenue Divisional

Officers, accompanied by officials of various Government

Departments, visit the Villages in their jurisdiction every

month and redress the grievances put forth by the public on

the spot. Villages are selected for the conduct of this

Programme in rotation. The programme is conducted on the

second Wednesday of every month, after proper

announcement well in advance.

21(ii) Public Grievance Day

This Public grievance day is being conducted every

Monday by the all the District Collectors since 1986

throughout the state. The District Collectors receive the

petitions from the public, hear their grievances in the

presence of officials of Revenue and other departments and

initiate necessary action for the redressal of grievances of the

public. The petitions received on the Grievance Day

(Monday) are immediately forwarded to the officials

concerned for necessary action. A white card is issued to the

petitioners as a receipt for the petitions received. The

progress in the disposal of these petitions is closely

monitored by the District Collectors.

(iii) Petitions received by Honourable Ministers, MPs and MLAs

The petitions received from the Honourable Chief

Minister's Special Cell are acted upon immediately and replies

sent to the petitioners within 15 days. Similarly Petitions

received by Honourable Ministers, Members of the Parliament

22and the Members of Legislative Assembly during their visits

to their constituencies are given priority and forwarded to the

respective District Collectors for necessary action. The

petitions received by the District Collectors are sorted out

Legislative Assembly / Parliament Constituency wise and

recorded in the special registers maintained for each of the

constituencies and the petitioners are replied about the

action taken.

2.11 Land Revenue

(i) Reduction and Simplification of Land Revenue

As announced in the Budget Speech the Government

issued orders in G.O. (Ms.) No.223, Revenue Department,

dated 7.7.2009 constituting a Committee under the

Chairmanship of Principal Secretary / Commissioner of

Revenue Administration for simplifying the present

cumbersome system of assessment of Land Revenue and

village accounts.

In anticipation of the report of the Committee, the

Government simplified and drastically reduced the Land

23Revenue and fixed at Rs.2/- per acre for dry land and at

Rs.5/- per acre for wet land and also eliminated other levies

such as Local Cess and Local Cess Surcharge etc., from the

Fasli Year 1419.

(ii) Land Revenue Remission

Due to the damage caused by the floods of North East

Monsoon during the year 2008-2009, paddy and other crops

cultivated in 14.25 lakh acres were affected in the State. A

sum of Rs.388 crores has been disbursed as compensation to

10.40 lakh affected farmers. As announced in the Budget

Speech 2009-2010, the Government in G.O. (Ms.) No.2

Revenue Department, dated 4.1.2010 have ordered waiver of

Land Revenue including Water Cess, Local Cess, Local Cess

Surcharge, etc., amounting to Rs.21.34 crore in the affected

areas of the 8.93 lakh hectares in eleven districts viz,

Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Tiruvallur, Tiruvarur, Pudukkottai,

Ariyalur, Tiruchirapalli, Perambalur, Karur, Thanjavur and

Kancheepuram.

242.12 Census - 2011

The census of India is the largest administrative

exercise carried out in the country once in ten years that

provides data on various socio-economic parameters and

demographic profile of the entire country's population.

The census of India 2011 is the fifteenth census in the

continuous serious as reckoned from 1872 and the Seventh

since independence. The census operations are to commence

in the State from 01.06.2010.

(i) National Population Register (NPR)

The NPR would be a Register of usual residents of the

country. The NPR will be a comprehensive identity database

that would help in better targeting of the benefits and

services under the Government schemes / programmes,

improve planning and help strengthen security of the

country. This is being done for the first time in the country.

The NPR would have the data of every person

enumerated during the Census operations irrespective of

age. It would also have the biometric data and Unique

25Identity Number (UID) of every person of age 15 years and

above. National Identity Cards will be given in a phased

manner to all usual residents. The issue of Cards will be done

in Coastal Villages to start with. After this the coastal Towns

will be covered and so on till the entire country is covered.

In the State of Tamil Nadu 225 villages from 12 Coastal

Districts namely Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Villupuram,

Cuddalore, Pudukkottai, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam,

Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and

Kanniyakumari have been taken up initially for the creation of

National Population Register.

The Principal Secretary and Commissioner of Revenue

Administration is the Nodal Officer for the preparation of NPR

and Census 2011. The officials of the Revenue Department

play an important role in the Census operations.

2.13 Natural Calamities and Disaster Management

Revenue Administration Disaster Management and

Mitigation Department plays a pivotal role in disaster

management and is responsible for preventive, relief and

26rehabilitation activities. The Principal Secretary/

Commissioner of Revenue Administration has been

designated as the State Relief Commissioner.

State Disaster Management Authority has been

constituted under the Chairmanship of the Hon’ble Chief

Minister to monitor the Disaster Management activities in the

State. A State Executive Committee has also been

constituted under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary to

assist the above authority. The relief measures are

implemented and monitored at the State Level by the State

Relief Commissioner and in the districts by the Collectors

concerned.

(i) Rainfall Pattern in Tamil Nadu

The Climatic seasons of Tamil Nadu are broadly

classified as follows:- (i) Winter Season (January - February)

(ii) Summer Season (March - May) (iii) Southwest Monsoon

(June - September) and (iv) Northeast Monsoon (October -

December).

27 The State receives an average annual rainfall of 990

mm, of which approximately 34% is received from the

Southwest Monsoon and 48% from the Northeast Monsoon.

The Northeast Monsoon provides the major part of the

precipitation particularly to the coastal districts viz.,

Tiruvallur, Chennai, Kancheepuram, Villupuram, Cuddalore,

Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Pudukkottai,

Ramanathapuram and Thoothukudi which are highly

vulnerable to the cyclonic storms. The Nilgiris and Theni

districts receive good rains during the Southwest Monsoon

period. The districts of Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari receive

rainfall during both Southwest and Northeast Monsoons

(ii) Pre-Monsoon Preparedness Measures

A Pre-monsoon preparedness review meeting is

conducted by the Chief Secretary in the month of August /

September every year before the onset of Northeast

Monsoon to assess the state of preparedness and to evolve

effective coordination with line departments and Defence

28services, to tackle the situation that may arise out of floods /

cyclone and suitable instructions are issued to the line

departments and District Collectors.

On the same analogy, a District Level Coordination

Committee Meeting is conducted by the Collector of each

district with the line departments and other agencies. Based

on the suggestions and feedback received and previous years

experience, regular protective and preventive steps are

initiated by the Collectors well ahead of the onset of the

monsoon. Mock drills are conducted with the stakeholders to

familiarise the response mechanism.

(iii) Training on Disaster Management

Necessary training is imparted to the Senior and Middle

level Officers of departments concerned on management of

various disasters at the National Institute of Disaster

Management (NIDM), New Delhi. The Anna Institute of

Management, which is the Nodal Agency for Disaster

29Management Training in the State imparts training to district

level officials of various departments.

(iv) Emergency Operation Centre

An Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) is functioning in

the Office of the State Relief Commissioner throughout the

year, round the clock as a permanent control room with

necessary infrastructure facilities. A toll free public utility

service Telephone No.1070 has been installed for receiving

information on disasters from the general public.

The Collectors monitor the monsoon activities round the

clock. A toll free public utility service telephone No.1077 has

been installed in all the Collectorates.

(v) India Meteorological Department (IMD)

The India Meteorological Department disseminates

information on weather forecast and rain related issues to

the State Relief Commissioner / EOC. The State Relief

30Commissioner in turn issues instructions to Collectors and line

departments concerned.

(vi) Rain gauges

There are 383 rain gauge stations, well distributed

throughout the State. The rain fall recorded in these stations

are sent to State Relief Commissioners Office daily. These

rain gauge stations are periodically inspected by the Officers

of the IMD and the Revenue Department.

(vii) Cyclone Shelters

There are 124 cyclone shelters in the State. In addition

145 evacuation shelters are proposed to be constructed

under Vulnerability Reduction of Coastal Communities Project

at a cost of about Rs.290 crore.

(viii) Daily Situation Report

The Rainfall and other related data are uploaded by the

district authorities in the web portal http://revenue.tn.nic.in

on a daily basis throughout the year. The above details are

31sent to Government / IMD by the State Relief Commissioner

every day.

(ix) Calamity Relief Fund (CRF)

Based on the Finance Commission’s Recommendations

fund is allocated from Calamity Relief Fund to the states.

Government of India contributes 75% to the Calamity Relief

Fund for each financial year, in the form of a non-plan grant

and the balance 25% amount is contributed by the State

Government. A total sum of Rs.254.13 Crore was allotted for

the year 2009-2010 from the CRF. Out of this, Rs.190.60

Crore and Rs.63.53 Crore were the shares of Government of

India and the State Government respectively. A State Level

Committee headed by Chief Secretary administers the

Calamity Relief Fund.

(x) Northeast Monsoon 2009

During the year 2009, the Northeast Monsoon set in

over the State on 29.10.2009. The actual rainfall received

from 01.10.2009 to 31.12.2009 was 546.9 mm as against

32normal seasonal rainfall of 474.2 mm, i.e., 15% higher,

which is rated as 'normal' as per meteorological parlance.

During the Northeast Monsoon period heavy rainfall was

recorded in the Nilgiris district and coastal districts. Due to

the massive landslide in the Nilgiris district and cyclone in the

coastal districts, totally 114 human lives were lost; 578 cattle

perished and 10241 houses were damaged in the State.

Rescue and Relief measures were taken on a war footing by

the Government.

A sum of Rs.25.70 crore has been sanctioned to the

Nilgiris district for the immediate restoration of damaged

infrastructure in the districts. A sum of Rs.120 lakh has been

allotted to the Collector, Coimbatore district for temporary

restoration of damages caused to Contour Canal and Aliyar

Feeder Canal due to heavy rains during November 2009.

(xi) Drought Relief

A total amount of Rs.24.25 crore has been sanctioned

from Calamity Relief Fund to the 11 (eleven) districts of

Vellore, Virudhunagar, Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram, Tiruvallur,

33Thoothukudi, Ramanathapuram, Dindigul, Dharmapuri,

Krishnagiri and Pudukkottai to combat the drinking water

scarcity due to drought, before the onset of Northeast

Monsoon in 2009.

(xii) Disaster Risk Management Programme sponsored by Government of India and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

With a view to reduce the vulnerability of communities

to natural disasters, in identified multi hazard prone areas,

the Government of India and the United Nations

Development Programme (UNDP) are implementing the

Disaster Risk Management Programme in Tamil Nadu.

This programme has been implemented in two phases

in 13 districts of viz., Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Cuddalore,

Nagapattinam, Kanniyakumari, The Nilgiris, Villupuram,

Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Pudukkottai, Ramanathapuram,

Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi. Under this programme about

4.10 lakh Government officials, members of Non

Governmental Organisations, Village Volunteers, Teachers

34and NSS volunteers Members of Panchayatraj institutions

have been trained. Emergency Operation Centres have been

constructed and functioning in these districts. The total

outlay of the programme was Rs.11.91 crore and it was

entirely funded by the UNDP. The programme has concluded

in June 2009.

2.14 Tsunami Relief and Rehabilitation

Various relief and rehabilitation measures have been

taken by the Government on war footing for the

rehabilitation and improvement of livelihood of people

affected by Tsunami that struck the coastal areas on

26.12.2004.

The State Government has been implementing the

following schemes in the affected areas with the assistance

of Central Government, World Bank, Asian Development

Bank, Prime Minister's National Relief Fund and with active

participation of National and International Non-Governmental

Organisations.

35(i) Housing Construction (Phase I)

Construction of 53660 houses have been taken up for

the Tsunami affected families both by Government (22628

houses) and NGOs (31032 houses) in Phase I. Out of these,

44647 houses have been completed so far and 9013 houses

are under construction.

(ii) Reconstruction of houses with Disaster Resistant Features in Vulnerable Coastal Areas Phase – II

In Phase II, Government have taken up reconstruction

of 42192 in-situ houses lying in vulnerable areas upto 1000

meters from High Tide Line with all disaster resistant

features. This includes 25192 houses under Rajiv Gandhi

Rehabilitation Package (RGRP) and 17,000 houses under

Vulnerability Reduction of Coastal Community Project

component of World Bank aided Emergency Tsunami

Reconstruction Project (ETRP)

(iii) Fishermen Welfare

Fishermen whose fishing implements like fibre

reinforced plastic boats, mechanized boats, catamaran,

36vallam, nets etc., were damaged in Tsunami were given

immediate relief of Rs.152.15 crore for repairing / replacing

their implements.

An additional relief of Rs.110.36 crore has been

sanctioned to the already benefited 42,000 fishermen

towards supply of heavy duty bicycles, rechargeable lanterns,

life jackets, ice boxes and nets.

47,000 fishermen were provided with first aid boxes at a

cost of Rs.9.40 crore. 591 fishermen villages were provided

with sports material at a cost of Rs.0.59 crore. Recreation

Centres were established at a cost of Rs.1.90 crore.

A pilot Project for implementing Seamless

Communication Network has been taken up in

Ramanathapuram District at a cost of Rs.7.73 crore.

M/s. ELCOT, Chennai has taken up the work of implementing

the scheme. This will be extended to other Coastal districts

also.

37(iv) Other Infrastructure Works

Sl.No Schemes Works

taken up Works

completed

Works under

progress 1 Road 1552.50 Km 1542.18 Km 10.32 km 2 Bridges * 62 37 25

3 Water supply and sewerage 40 40

4 Desilting Canals 10 10 5 Solid waste management 36 36 6 Renovation of Minor Ports 23 23 7 Public Buildings 226 226

8 Cyclone Shelters and Memorials 114 114

9 Reclamation of Agricultural and Hortitulcutral Lands

8844.35 Hectares

8844.35 Hectares

10 Raising Shelter Belt and Mangrove Plantations

6940 Hectares

6940 Hectares

All works completed

11

Repair and reconstruction of fishing harbours and fish landing centres, construction of new fish landing centres, cold storage plant

33 16 17

12

Preparation of High Tide Line (HTL) maps, fixing of stone pillars on HTL reference points, preparation of Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan (ICZMP) and Bio-remediation of Water Bodies

4 1 3

13 Implementation of sanitation schemes in habitations

16 5 11

*Except Sl.No.1,9,&10 works are in numbers

38(v) Schemes implemented under Tsunami

Rehabilitation Programme (a) Rajiv Gandhi Rehabilitation Package (RGRP)

Under the Scheme the works / schemes such as

immediate relief to the affected people, Accelerated Rural

Water Supply Programme, Sampoorna Gramin Razgar Yojana

Scheme, subsidy to fishermen, bank loans, fishing harbour

and construction of houses to the affected families are

undertaken. Out of the allocation of Rs.2347.19 crore, a

sum of Rs.1857.02 crore has been spent so far.

(vi) Schemes funded under Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund:

(a) Prime Minister's Scholarship Scheme

The Children who study in Class I to Class X and whose

families were affected by tsunami are assisted with

scholarship of Rs.300 per month to meet their school going

expenses. During the year 2009-2010 a sum of Rs.26.30

crore has been sanctioned under this scheme to 97,424

students.

39(vii) World Bank–Restructured Emergency

Tsunami Reconstruction Project (ETRP)-Vulnerability Reduction of Coastal Communities Project (VRCC)

A sum of Rs.1959.10 crore has been reallocated by

the World Bank for the works including reconstruction of

17,000 houses with disaster resistant features in vulnerable

coastal areas, construction of 145 evacuation shelters, 150

km - evacuation routes and installation of 1000 early warning

systems. The agreement for the Restructured ETRP-VRCC

Project was signed with the World Bank on 13.8.2009. The

list of beneficiaries have been finalised and tenders for

construction of houses are under evaluation.

(viii) Asian Development Bank (ADB) - Tsunami Emergency Assistance Project (TEAP)

Under the ADB funded TEAP, the works including

restoration of livelihood, repair and reconstruction of rural

and municipal infrastructure, roads, bridges, ports, harbours

and water supply and sanitation works were taken up in the

13 coastal districts and completed at a cost of Rs.620 crore.

The Scheme was completed in October 2009.

40(ix) Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction by Asian

Development Bank. Under the Scheme, works such as alternative livelihood

activities and environment friendly fish breeding activities are

implemented through Asian Development Bank with funds

from Japan, for the benefit of Tsunami affected people at a

cost of Rs.16.70 crore. The project period is upto October

2010.

On the whole, under the various schemes for

Rehabilitation of Tsunami affected people, a sum of

Rs.5257.62 crore has been allocated and so far a sum of

Rs.3171.84 crore has been spent.

41CHAPTER - III

LAND ADMINISTRATION

The Revenue Department is the custodian of all the

Government lands. Land Administration Department deals

with various important subjects such as Assignment of

cultivable land, Assignment of house site, land lease, land

transfer, land alienation, land acquisition, Eviction of

encroachments on Government lands and implementation of

Estate / Inam Abolition Acts, Cinematography Act, etc.,

3.1 Assignment

(a) Assignment of Free House sites (Regular Scheme)

With a view to meet basic need to the weaker sections

of the society, house sites are provided to the houseless poor

free of cost by the Government. The annual income limit for

assignment of free house sites has been fixed at Rs.30,000

per family for rural areas and at Rs.50,000 per family for

urban areas. To empower women house site patta is

assigned in the name of the wife / lady member of a family.

42Maximum of three cents in villages and town panchayats one

and half cents in Municipal areas and one cent in Corporation

respectively are assigned free of cost as per the existing

Rules.

The assignees were permitted to mortgage the house

site with the Nationalised Banks or the Tamil Nadu co-

operative Banks for availing credit under the Rural Housing

Schemes so as to construct houses on the assigned lands.

House site are assigned in the following order of preference:-

(i) Families of defence personnel, including Border

Security Force, Territorial Army Personnel etc.,

killed or disabled in action.

(ii) Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes

(iii) Released Bonded Labourers.

(iv) Ex-Servicemen.

(v) Landless Poor.

In order to ensure the benefit reaching the eligible

persons quickly, monetary powers were delegated to the

officers as detailed below:-

43

Sl.No Officers Monetary Limit (land value)

1 Tahsildar Upto Rs. 30,000/-

2 Revenue Divisional Officer Upto Rs. 50,000/-

3 District Revenue Officer Upto Rs. 1,00,000/-

4 District Collector Upto Rs. 4,00,000/-

5 Commissioner of Land Administration

Upto Rs. 5,00,000/-

6 Government Above Rs. 5,00,000/-

(b) Regularisation of encroachments and grant of

House site patta (Special Scheme) The Government issued orders in G.O.( Ms.) No. 854,

Revenue Department, dated 30.12.2006, empowering the

District Collectors to issue house site patta to those who live

in Government Poramboke lands encroached by construction

of houses for more than 10 years by relaxing relevant ban

orders of assignment.

To ensure maximum benefits to poor, the Government

in G.O. (Ms.) No.498, Revenue Department, dated 5.9.2007

extended the time limit upto 31.3.2008 and delegated certain

powers to the Collectors. The Government in their order G.O.

44(2D) No.711, Revenue Department, dated 30.11.2007, have

withdrawn the annual income ceiling for getting house site

patta under this scheme. The Government have also revised

the maximum area to be granted under this scheme free of

cost upto 4 cents in Rural areas and Town Panchayats, 2½

cents in Municipal areas and 2 cents in Municipal Corporation

areas and also ordered to reimburse the land cost already

paid by the beneficiaries right from 30.12.2006 for obtaining

house site patta. In G.O. (Ms) No.34, Revenue Department,

dated 23.1.2008, it has been ordered that the eligibility

criteria for this scheme was reduced from 10 years to 5

years. The Government in G.O. (Ms.) No. 366, Revenue

Department, dated 8.10.2009 extended the time limit of this

scheme upto 30.9.2010. Further the eligibility period of

Regularisation of encroachment was reduced from 5 years to

3 years vide G.O. (Ms.) No. 43, Revenue Department, dated

29.1.2010.

45(c) Achievements in grant of House site Pattas

Under the special scheme 2,22,692 house site pattas

were issued from 01.01.2007 to 31.03.2010. Under the

regular scheme, 5,01,635 house site pattas were issued from

01.04.2006 to 31.03.2010. Totally 7,24,327 families have

been benefitted under these schemes.

Community wise details are as follows:-

Category Beneficiaries

Scheduled Caste 1,89,860

Scheduled Tribes 14,124

Most Backward Classes 2,14,309

Backward Classes 2,74,715

Others 31,319

Total 7,24,327 (d) Assignment of Cultivable Lands (Regular

Scheme) With a main focus of improving the standard of living of

the poor, cultivable waste lands are assigned for agricultural

purpose under the provisions of Revenue Standing Order 15.

Free assignment is given to those families whose annual

46income is below Rs.30,000/- per family in rural areas and

Rs.50,000/- per family in urban areas. The order of

preference for assignment of land for agriculture is the same

as in the case of house site assignment.

The Government have also delegated powers to

Revenue Officers for assignment of cultivable lands, as in the

case of house site assignments, with the following monetary

limits:-

Sl.No Officers Monetary Limit (land value)

1 Tahsildar Upto Rs. 30,000/-

2 Revenue Divisional Officer Upto Rs. 50,000/-

3 District Revenue Officer Upto Rs. 1,00,000/-

4 District Collector Upto Rs. 4,00,000/-

5 Commissioner of Land Administration

Upto Rs. 5,00,000/-

6 Government Above Rs. 5,00,000/-

(e) Distribution of Government Waste Land to

Landless Agricultural Families (Special Scheme)

In the year 2006, the Government introduced a special

scheme of Distribution of Government Waste Lands to the

landless agricultural families.

47 This scheme covers the following three categories:-

i) Assignment of Government Poramboke lands

free from encroachment.

ii) Assignment of Government Poramboke lands

encroached upon by landless, marginal and

small farmers.

iii) Development / Reclamation of patta waste

lands owned by small and marginal farmers.

The land is distributed to the landless agricultural

families only after necessary land development / reclamation

wherever required, dovetailing with various schemes which

are executed by the Departments of Agriculture and Rural

Development.

This special scheme was launched by the Hon'ble Chief

Minister in Tiruvallur District on 17.9.2006. Under this

scheme 2,12,164 acres of land have been distributed to

1,78,198 beneficiaries upto 31.03.2010.

Community wise details are as follows:-

Category Beneficiaries

Scheduled Caste 41826

Scheduled Tribes 3275

Most Backward Classes 57919

48Category Beneficiaries

Backward Classes 66492

Others 8686

Total 178198 3.2 Land Lease

The Government lands are granted on lease basis for

non-agricultural purposes in favour of local bodies,

companies, societies, associations, trusts, individuals and

private bodies, for a minimum period of 3 years and a

maximum period of 30 years as per the conditions laid down

under Revenue Standing Order 24-A.

As per the orders in force the lease rent is fixed at 7%

of the market value of the land for non-commercial purposes

and at 14% for commercial purposes.

The annual lease rent is revisable after every 3 years.

However in special cases, the lease of land is also granted on

nominal annual lease rent and on long term basis by the

Government in public interest.

493.3 Transfer of Lands

Under Revenue Standing Order 23-A, Government

poramboke land is transferred in favour of other

Departments of the State Government free of cost for specific

purpose. Government poramboke lands are also allotted to

Central Government Departments by way of transfer under

the Revenue Standing Order 23 usually on collection of

market value.

The Collectors are empowered to transfer small extent

of unobjectionable poramboke lands free of cost to the

Government Departments. Where 'Meikkal' and 'Manthaiveli'

poramboke lands are involved for transfer, an alternate land

equal in extent has to be provided for development as

Meikkal or Manthaiveli Poramboke by the requisitioning body

besides payment of development charges at the rate of Rs.

6,000/- per acre or Rs. 15,000/- per hectare. The local body

concerned will develop the land so provided as 'Meikkal' or

'Mandaiveli' as the case may be for the common use of the

Public.

503.4 Alienation of Land

Government poramboke lands are alienated to the Local

Bodies, Universities, and Public sector undertakings like

TNEB, TIDCO, SIDCO, SIPCOT, etc., subject to certain

conditions under Revenue Standing Order 24. For the Tamil

Nadu Slum Clearance Board, lands are alienated free of cost

for construction of tenements. If Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance

Board requires lands for other commercial purposes, land is

allotted after collecting a nominal value of Rs.5,000/- per

ground. Lands are alienated free of cost to The Tamil Nadu

Water Supply and Drainage Board. The Government

Poramboke lands are also placed at the disposal of Tamil

Nadu Housing Board for the construction of Government

rental quarters. The Government also alienate Poramboke

lands to Tamil Nadu Housing Board for its housing activities

on collection of land cost. For the establishment of sub-

stations, the lands are alienated to Tamil Nadu Electricity

Board on collection of single market value. Lands are

alienated to the Transport Corporations for establishment of

51Bus Terminals and passenger Bus Stands on collection of

50% of the market value. Single Market Value is collected for

the lands alienated to SIPCOT. In respect of other

requisitioning bodies and for other purposes, lands are

alienated on collection of single market value or more.

Land should be used only for the purpose for which it is

alienated and if any of the conditions of alienation are

violated, the lands are liable to be resumed by the

Government without the repayment of the land cost so paid

for alienation.

3.5 Eviction of Encroachments

Unauthorised occupation of Government lands is an

offence under the Laws in force. The Government lands are

meant to be used for public purpose and future needs. As

such, it is the paramount duty of the Revenue Department as

well as the user department to protect the land free from

encroachments. Encroachments on Government lands are

evicted by invoking the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Land

Encroachment Act, 1905 and other acts in force.

52 Priority is accorded for the eviction of encroachments in

Water bodies, tanks, rivers, lakes, ponds and other water

course porambokes in co-ordination with Public Works

Department and Police Department.

Besides, the Revenue Department, the Officers of the

Public Works Department, Highways Department, Forest

Department and local bodies have also been empowered to

carry out eviction of encroachments in respect of lands

vested with them under the following Acts:-

(1) Tamil Nadu Land Encroachment Act, 1905

(2) Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act, 1920

(3) Tamil Nadu Panchayat Act, 1958

(4) Tamil Nadu Highways Act, 2001

(5) Tamil Nadu Forest Act, 1882

(6) Tamil Nadu Protection of Tanks and Eviction of

Encroachment Act, 2007

The District Level Committee constituted under the

Chairmanship of the District Collector with the

representatives of Public Works Department, Forest

53Department, Police Department etc., monitor the eviction of

encroachment effectively. The High Level Committee

constituted at State level under the Chairmanship of the

Hon'ble Minister for Revenue and Housing in which 2 MLAs,

and elected representatives of urban local bodies besides

Chief Secretary to Government and Secretary level Officers

and selective departments are members, monitor the

progress of eviction of encroachments carried out in the

districts.

The High Level Committee meeting was last held on

23.2.2010.

During the period between 1.1.2009 and 31.3.2010,

1,53,976 encroachments on water structures, Public places

have been evicted throughout the State.

3.6 Land Acquisition Works

The Government acquires patta lands under Land

Acquisition Act, 1894 (Act 1/1894), Tamil Nadu Highways

Act, 2001 (Act 34/2002), Tamil Nadu Acquisition of Land for

Harijan Welfare Schemes Act, 1978 (Act 31/1978) and Tamil

54Nadu Acquisition of Land for Industrial Purposes Act, 1997

(Act 10/1999) for implementing various Development

Schemes and other Projects.

(i) Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (Central Act -1/1894)

Lands are acquired for various projects and schemes

implemented by Central and State Governments under the

Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (Central Act 1/1894). Under this

Act, the time prescribed for completion of Land Acquisition

proceedings for ordinary clause is three years. But, under

provisions of the urgency clause under Section 17(1) and

17(2) of the above Act, lands can be acquired within 180

days. A PERT CHART prescribing the time limit was

introduced in order to quicken the Land Acquisition process.

The Monetary limit for passing award in Land Acquisition has been fixed as follows:-

S.No. Officers Monetary Limit

1 Tahsildars / Special Tahsildars Up to Rs. 2,50,000/-

2 Revenue Divisional Officers / Officers in the grade of Deputy Collectors

Above Rs. 2,50,000/- Up to Rs. 7,50,000/-

55

S.No. Officers Monetary Limit

3 Collector / Additional Collector / District Revenue Officer

Above Rs. 7,50,000/- Up to Rs. 20,00,000/-

4 Commissioner of Land Administration Above Rs. 20,00,000/-

In order to accelerate the pace of progress in Land

Acquisition work, Government also accord sanction for the

appointment of special staff as per the norms set forth in

G.O. (Ms.) No. 285, Revenue Department, dated 10.2.1966,

in G.O.(Ms.) No. 2556, Revenue Department, dated

16.12.1975 and in G.O. (Ms.) No. 205, Revenue Department,

dated 10.3.1993.

Instead of invoking the Land Acquisition Acts which are

time consuming the Government have also constituted

District and State level committees to expedite the acquisition

of land through private negotiation as per G.O. (Ms.) No.

885, Revenue Department, dated 21.9.1995 and G.O. (Ms.)

No. 1246 Revenue Department, dated 22.11.1996.

As per the said Government Orders, where the

negotiated value of the land is below Rs. 20 lakh and below

56150% of Guide Line Register value / Market value the

District level committee is empowered to purchase the land

through private negotiation. If the negotiated value exceeds

Rs.20 lakh and within 150% of Guide Line Register value /

Market value, the State Level Committee is empowered to

approve the purchase. If the negotiated value is above Rs.20

lakh and above 150% of Guide Line Register value /Market

value, the orders of the Government is obtained to purchase

the land through private negotiation.

3.7 Tree Patta Scheme

The 2C Patta Scheme known as Tree patta is granted

under Revenue Standing Order No.18 in the State. Under

this scheme, the right to use the leaves, fruits and other

usufructs of the trees standing on the Government

poramboke land are granted to the adjacent land owners or

other eligible persons who can take care of the trees. But

the right over the trees as well as the land however continue

to vest with the Government. Women belonging to depressed

classes are given preference under this Scheme.

57CHAPTER - IV

SURVEY AND SETTLEMENT

4.1 Survey

Survey and Land Records Department is one of the

oldest departments, functioning under the control of the

Revenue Department. The organized system of land survey,

which commenced during the reign of King Raja Raja I of

Chola dynasty, has undergone various stages of

improvements and reached the stage of using modern

equipments such as Global Positioning System and Electronic

Total Station to survey the land accurately and to maintain

the records.

The department is undertaking Natham Survey, Town

Survey and Resurvey works. The routine maintenance works

such as updating of land records with reference to the

transfer of registry, sale, partition, sub division etc., are being

attended to by this department. The details of progress of

the ongoing schemes are furnished below:-

584.2 Cadastral Survey Schemes

(i) Town Survey

It is a land survey carried out in Municipal / Corporation

areas. In Town Survey subdivision records are prepared and

area is recorded in Hectares, Ares and Square Meters.

Total area surveyed so far under Town Survey scheme is

1801 Sq.Km. The details are as follows:-

Sl.No. Details Municipalities Corporations

1. Total No. of Towns/ Corporations

148 10

2. Taken up for survey

106 7

3. Completed 98 5

4. Progress *8 **2

5. To be taken up 42 3 * Municipalities - Vedaranyam (Nagappatinam district)

Gudalur (Theni district)

Ambasamudram (Tirunelveli district)

Thiruthangal (Virudhunagar district)

Keelakarai (Ramanathapuram district)

Thirupparakundram (Madurai district)

Kayalpattinam (Thoothukudi district)

59 Kathivakkam (Tiruvallur district)

** Corporations - Chennai Corporation

Tiruppur Corporation

(ii) Natham Survey

Natham villages are classified as porambokes in

settlement and recorded as Natham Poramboke in the

settlement register. But they are distinct from other

porambokes such as Kalam, Grazing ground, etc., set apart

for public utility. The people in Natham have ownership right

over the land they legally possess but no enjoyment

subdivisions are available in Revenue Records. Under Natham

Survey Scheme, subdivision records are prepared and area is

recorded in Hectares, Ares and Square Meters.

The details of completion of Natham Survey are as

follows:-

Sl.No. Details No. of taluks

1. Total Taluks 220

2. Work completed 215

3. Work in progress *5

* Survey Measurement work has been completed in

60(1) 21 villages out of 29 natham villages in Ambattur

taluk of Tiruvallur district

(2) 19 villages out of 26 natham villages in Madavaram

taluk of Tiruvallur district

(3) 13 villages out of 15 natham villages in Tambaram

taluk of Kancheepuram district

(4) 5 villages out of 7 natham villages in Alandur taluk

of Kancheepuram district

(5) 9 villages out of 22 natham villages in

Sholinganallur taluk of Kancheepuram district

Work is in progress in the remaining natham villages in

the above taluks.

4.3 Computerisation of Land Records Programme

• Tamil Nadu Infosystem on Land

Administration and Management (TAMIL

NILAM) is a major e-Governance initiative taken

up by the Revenue Department of Government of

Tamil Nadu to computerise the Land Records

System in Tamil Nadu. TAMIL NILAM is currently

implemented in all the rural taluks in the State. It

handles all the transactions relating to Land

Records in the State.

61• Computerization of Land Records (CLR)

programme is being implemented in the State

through this department.

• The data of ‘A’ register and chitta of all rural

villages in 215 taluks (except Chennai) in the State

have been computerized and computerized land

record extracts are being issued to public.

• A sum of Rs.35.05 crore has been collected

through issue of computerized land record extracts

till 05.03.2010

• Adangal data have been computerized and

validation is in progress in the districts.

Computerization of Urban land records data of

Chennai district is in progress.

• Computers and other accessories have been

supplied to Taluk Offices, Revenue Divisional

Offices, District Collectorate and the Directorate.

• Digitization of Field Measurement Sketches has

been taken up in the State through the department

staff. Work is in progress in 27 districts. Creation of

infrastructure facilities in 2 districts is in progress.

So far, 3.66 lakh Field Measurement Sketches have

been digitized.

62• After the Field Measurement Sketches are digitized,

the spatial data will be integrated with the existing

TAMIL NILAM database.

• e-services of land records “Anytime Anywhere Land

Records” scheme was launched on 15.05.2008. It

is an on-line portal for viewing patta and 'A'

Register for agricultural lands in Tamil Nadu. The

public can access the land information like ‘A’

Register, Chitta, Government Poramboke lands etc.

in the web-site www.eservices.tn.gov.in from

anywhere at any time. Updation of land records

data is carried out through Tamil Nadu State Wide

Area Network (TNSWAN) by National Informatics

Centre.

4.4 Strengthening of Revenue Administration and Updating of Land Records:

• Village maps of all districts have been scanned and

preserved. It is proposed to Scan all the Survey

and Settlement records available at the State

Archives.

• Computerized Cartographic Centre attached to the

Central Survey Office has been strengthened with

modern equipments. A few more equipments such

as Plotters, Mapping software, etc. will be supplied

soon. Village, taluk and district maps are generated

63through computers. Different maps are generated

through computers from the center and supplied to

public.

• Computerization of the Commissionerate of Survey

and Settlement has also been taken up to facilitate

effective and close monitoring of all the schemes.

• Required plotters have been supplied to all the

District Survey Units to decentralize the supply of

Village, Taluk and District maps to the public at the

districts itself.

• Xerox machines have also been supplied to all the

District Survey Units. Fax machines have been

supplied to 14 Assistant Directors of Survey and

Land Records and 5 Deputy Directors of Survey

and Land Records.

4.5 Training & Capacity Building

• Training on computers, TAMIL NILAM applications

and digitization software has been given to 8872

officials of both Revenue and Survey department.

• Training has also been given to 1780 officials of

this department, in the Centre for Survey Training

and Research (C-STAR) at Anna University,

Chennai to handle modern survey equipments.

64• Around 55 personnel have been given training in

Hyderabad on Geospatial Technologies and

Surveying & Mapping - which is the information

that defines the Geographical location on earth.

This spatial data is stored as coordinates that can

be mapped.

4.6 Settlement

The Government of Tamil Nadu with a view to abolish

all the intermediaries between the Government and the Ryots

as a part of its large scale agrarian reforms had enacted

various abolition acts like Estate and Inam Abolition Act and

Ryotwari settlement had been introduced throughout the

State.

The Ryotwari Settlement work under the Tamil Nadu

Inam Estate (Abolition and conversion into Ryotwari) Act,

1963 is pending due to various reasons including court cases,

in Arayapuram Thattimal Padugai and Sooriyanarayanapuram

villages in Thanjavur District, Ramachandran Koilpathu village

in Nagapattinam District, Kalanivaipatti village in Pudukkottai

District and Chennasandiram, Marasandiram, Uliyalam,

65Bairasandiram, Elayasandhiram and Thimmasandiram villages

in Krishnagiri District.

The Ryotwari Settlement work under the Tamil Nadu

minor Inam (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act

1963 is pending due to various reasons including court cases

in Karanappatti, Kothandaramapuram and Nilayappatti

villages in Pudukkottai District, Agasthiampalli in

Nagappatinam District and Tharikkomban in Sivagangai

District.

The Ryotwari Settlement work under the Gudalur

Janmam Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotowari)

Act, 1969 is in progress in The Nilgiris District. Out of the

total 80,087.74 acres of Janmam lands, settlement work in

respect of 28,087.03 acres had been completed. Out of the

remaining 52000.71 acres of lands, orders have been passed

by the Settlement Officer (Gudalur Janmam Lands) resuming

42,752.62 acres of land to Government. Cases challenging

the above orders are pending before the Janmam Abolition

Tribunal, Ooty and four cases challenging the validity of the

66Act among other things are pending before the Supreme

Court of India.

(i) Natham Settlement

Natham Settlement work has been taken up as per G.O.

(Ms.) No.1971 Revenue Department, dated 14.10.1988

throughout the state and the work has been completed in

188 Taluks and 74,16,470 pattas were issued. Natham

Settlement works in respect of Agastheewaram, Thovalai,

Vilavangodu and Kalkulam Taluks of Kanyakumari District,

Udhagamandalam, Coonur, Kothagiri, Guntha, Gudalur and

Pandalur Taluks of The Nilgiris District, Tambaram, Alandur

and Sholinganallur Taluks of Kancheepuram District and

Ambattur and Madavaram Taluks of Tiruvallur District are in

progress. So far 15,215 Natham pattas have been issued in

the above 12 Taluks. Natham settlement work in Chennai

District and in all the Municipal Towns / Corporations has to

be commenced.

(ii) Revenue follow up work

As no re-settlement work has been conducted since

671937, to update the revenue records which had been created

during introduction of Ryotwari settlement, to delimit and

demarcate the poramboke lands, to issue pattas to the

present landholders and to prepare fresh revenue records

such as 'A' Register, Chitta, 2C Register etc., the revenue

follow up work has been introduced.

(a) Revenue Follow Up Work in Hill Villages

The Revenue follow up work in respect of 60 hill villages

has been completed out of 67 Hill villages and the work is in

progress in the following villages:-

1. Yelagiri (Vellore district) 2. Pachamalai (Salem District),

3. Anaimalai-Valparai (Coimbatore District) 4. Adukkam

Pudhukombai, 5. Chitthurnadu 6. Pellapadinadu and

7. Gundurnadu (Namakkal District).

(b) Revenue follow up work in Municipal Town and Corporation

The Government in G.O. (1D) No.103, Revenue

Department, dated 1.3.2007 have ordered for the

introduction of Revenue follow up work in 6 Corporations

68(except Chennai City) and in all Municipalities. Accordingly

the Revenue follow up work has been taken up in the

following 9 Municipalities and 2 Corporations in first phase.

1. Walajahpet (Vellore District), 2. Arani

(Tiruvannamalai District), 3. Panrutti (Cuddalore District), 4.

Aranthangi (Pudukkottai District), 5. Thuraiyur (Tiruchirapalli

District), 6. Periyakulam (Theni District), 7. Palani (Dindigul

District), 8. Bhavani (Erode District) 9. Rasipuram (Namakkal

District), and Thoothukudi and Coimbatore Corporations. So

far 21,672 pattas have been issued and the work is in

progress. This work has to be extended to the remaining

Municipal Towns and Corporations in this State.

4.7 Survey of Wakf properties

The Government of India have enacted 'The Wakf Act

1995' for the better administration of Wakf properties and

the matters thereof. The Commissioner of Survey and

Settlement has been appointed as the Survey Commissioner

for the Survey of Wakf properties and the work is in progress

throughout the State.

69CHAPTER - V

LAND REFORMS

5.1 Land Reforms and Distribution of Surplus Land

The Tamil Nadu Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling on

Land) Act, 1961 (Tamil Nadu Act 58/61), was enacted to

achieve the lofty principles of reducing the disparities in the

ownership of agricultural lands leading to the concentration

of more lands in the hands of a few. The objective of the Act

is to fix ceiling on the agricultural holdings of the land owner,

declare such excess of the ceiling area as surplus for

distributing the same to the landless poor people and thus

uplift their economic condition and social status in the

society.

As per the Tamil Nadu Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling

on Land) Act, 1961, the land ceiling for a family consisting of

5 members was initially fixed at 30 standard acres. In

addition 5 standard acres was allowed for every additional

member with an overall ceiling of 60 standard acres. In

70addition, 10 standard acres of Sridhana land was allowed for

each Female Member.

With a view to enhance the benefits of the Land

Reforms, certain provisions in the Principal Act were

rationalised through the enactment of the Tamil Nadu Land

Reforms (Reduction of Ceiling on Land) Act, 1970 [Tamil

Nadu Act 17/1970]. Accordingly, the ceiling on the

agricultural lands for the family consisting of 5 members was

reduced to 15 standard acres from 30 standard acres. The

overall ceiling limit of 60 standard acres for a family (more

than 5 members) fixed under the Principal Act, 58/1961, was

also reduced to the level of 40 standard acres through the

Tamil Nadu Land Reforms (FCL) Amendment Act 20/1972.

The overall ceiling area was further reduced to the level of 30

standard acres through the Tamil Nadu Act 39/1972. The

ceiling area as on date is as follows:-

71Sl.No. Category Extent allowed

1) For a family consisting of 5 members (Including Private Trust and Company)

15 standard acres

i) Each additional Member 5 standard acres

ii) Overall ceiling area 30 standard acres

2) a) Public Trust of Charitable Nature on the date of commencement of the Act

b) Religious trust of Public Nature or Religious institutions on the date of commencement of the Act

5 standard acres No application of the Land Ceiling Act

3) All public trusts are prohibited from acquiring agricultural lands after 1.3.1972.

4) Section 37-B of the Act 29/87 enables the public trust to apply to Government for permission to hold or acquire land for educational or hospital purposes after 01.03.1972

Surplus lands and their distribution: The lands held in excess of the ceiling limit are being

declared as surplus under the Tamil Nadu Land Reforms

(Fixation of Ceiling on Land) Act, 1961 as amended, and such

surplus lands are assigned to eligible landless persons as per

72the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Land Reforms (Disposal of

Surplus Land) Rules, 1965.

Though the Land Reforms Act was enacted in the year

1961, huge extent of lands was declared as surplus and also

assigned to the landless agricultural labourers only in the

years 1970-1980. For the period from 1970 to 1980, total

extent of 1,08,132 acres of lands was declared as surplus,

which was higher than ever before. During this period, a total

extent of 70,730 acres was assigned to 51,244 persons.

Similarly, for the period from 1980 to 1990, an extent of

50,834 acres was declared as surplus and also including the

balance extent of surplus land available in the previous years,

an extent of 59,647 acres of lands was assigned to 53,494

persons.

The details of lands declared as surplus and area

assigned to poor people (beneficiaries) from the inception of

Act upto 28.2.2010 are shown below:-

73

year lands declared

as surplus (in acres)

lands assigned (in acres)

No. of beneficiaries

1961-1970 19,028 14,074 7,978

1970-1980 1,08,132 70,730 51,244

1980-1990 50,834 59,647 53,494

1990-1996 15,093 34,953 21,297

1996-2001 7,156 10,459 8,334

2001-2006 6,603 8,371 6,439

2006-2007 1,160 1,011 773

2007-2008 201 659 600

2008-2009 176 284 257

2009-2010 (upto 28.2.10)

40 70 75

Total 2,08,423 (*)2,00,258 1,50,491 (*) includes land allotted to an extent of 10,185 acres for public purposes. The community wise details of beneficiaries are as follows:-

Categories of persons benefited

Number of persons

Extent assigned (in Acres)

Scheduled Castes 66,448 71,298

Scheduled Tribes 236 320

Others 83,807 1,18,455

Total 1,50,491 1,90,073

74

Categories of persons benefited

Number of persons

Extent assigned (in Acres)

Lands reserved for public purpose 10,185

Grand Total 2,00,258

The details of the balance extent to be assigned and also

extent covered under court cases:

Details in Acres

Extent notified as surplus 2,08,423

Land assigned to landless poor 1,90,073

Extent allotted for public purposes under rule 13 of the Tamil Nadu Land Reforms (DSL) Rules, 1965

10,185

Total assigned lands 2,00,258

Balance lands 8,165

Extent covered by stay granted by courts (Supreme Court, High Court, Land Commissioner and Sub-Courts)

8,044

Balance 121 During the year 2009-2010 an extent of 70 acres has

been assigned to 75 persons upto 28.2.2010, which includes

47 Scheduled Caste beneficiaries covering an extent of 36

acres.

755.2 Tenancy Laws

(i) The Tamil Nadu Cultivating Tenants Protection Act, 1955 (Tamil Nadu Act 25/55)

This Act has been enacted to protect the interest of the

cultivating tenants. This Act provides protection from eviction

from the lands except for non-payment of lease rent or doing

any act which is injurious to the land or crops thereon, failure

to cultivate the land, using the land for any purpose other

than agricultural or horticultural purpose or denial of the title

of the land owner to the land. In the case of adverse

seasonal conditions such as drought and natural calamity like

floods, the cultivating tenants were given relief from time to

time by postponing the collection of lease by Special

enactments by Government. The disputes between the land

owners and Tenants are settled by the Revenue Court in the

Districts.

(ii) The Tamil Nadu Cultivating Tenants (Payment of Fair Rent) Act, 1956 (Tamil Nadu Act 24/1956)

This Act provides for the fixation of fair rent payable by

the cultivating tenants to the landowners and Public trusts.

76At present, the fair rent is 25% of the normal gross

produce. It may be either in cash or kind. The cultivating

tenant bears the expenses of cultivation and the landowner

pays the land revenue and other dues on lands. The disputes

between the land owners and tenants are also settled by the

Revenue Courts.

(iii) The Tamil Nadu Public Trusts (Regulation and Administration of Agricultural Land) Act, 1961 (Tamil Nadu Act 57/1961)

Public Trusts are permitted under this Act to cultivate 20

standard acres under their personal cultivation and the

remaining extent has to be let on lease to others. This Act

also regulates the relation of pubic trusts and their cultivating

tenants. Their disputes are also settled by the Revenue

Courts in the Districts.

(iv) The Tamil Nadu Agricultural Lands (Record of Tenancy Rights) Act, 1969 (Tamil Nadu Act 10/1969)

The rights of the cultivating tenants are protected under

this Act by ensuring registration. The Taluk Tahsildar is the

Record Officer for the purposes of this Act and he is assisted

77by Advisory Committee consisting of non-officials. 2,63,412

persons have been registered as tenants under this Act as on

28.02.2010.

(v) The Tamil Nadu Occupants of Kudiyiruppu (Conferment of Ownership) Act, 1971 (Tamilnadu Act 40/1971) as amended

This Act provides for conferring ownership rights to any

agriculturist or agricultural labourer who was occupying any

kudiyiruppu as on 19.6.1971 either as tenant or as licensee.

The Tamil Nadu Rural Artisans (Conferment of Ownership)

Act, 1976 (Act 38/1976) extends similar benefits to rural

artisans who were occupying the site for kudiyiruppu as on

1.7.1975. The time limit was extended under both the Acts

upto 1.4.1990 by Act 39/1990.

The details of the total number of Kudiyiruppudars who

were conferred ownership rights over Kudiyiruppu as on

28.2.2010 are given below:-

Category Act 40/71 (Agriculturists/ Agricultural Labourers)

Act 38/76 (Rural

Artisans)

Act 39/90 (Agriculturists/

Agricultural Labourers and Rural Artisans)

Total

Scheduled Caste 1,00,218 62 1,052 1,01,332

Scheduled Tribes 2,317 17 412 2,746

Others 80,022 363 308 80,693

Total 1,82,557 442 1,772 1,84,771

78(vi) The Tamil Nadu Agricultural Labourers Fair

Wages Act, 1969 (Tamil Nadu Act 19 of 1969) Payment of fair wages was ensured under this Act to

agricultural labourers of Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur Districts

for various types of works in the agricultural sector ranging

from Rs. 54/- to 100/- per day for men labourers for six

hours of work and Rs. 45/- per day for women labourers for

five hours of work. In respect of other districts the Minimum

Wage Act 1948 is applicable.

(vii) Revenue Courts

Six Revenue Courts are now functioning in the State at

Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur,

Tiruchirapalli and Madurai. Officers in the rank of Deputy

Collector have been posted to act as Presiding Officers. The

Special Deputy Collectors (Revenue Court) are appellate

authorities who decide on appeals against the orders of the

Tahsildars concerned in respect of the Tamil Nadu

Agricultural Lands (Record of Tenancy Rights) Act, 1969.

79They also administer various tenancy laws mentioned in the

above paragraphs.

5.3 Tamil Nadu Agricultural Labourers Welfare Board With a view to ensure Social Security and Welfare of the

Agricultural Labourers and Farmers, the Government in G.O.

(Ms.) No.62, Revenue Department, dated 9.2.2001

introduced 'The Tamil Nadu Agricultural Labourers Social

Security and Welfare Scheme, 2001'. Later, the Government

ordered in G.O. (Ms.) No.509, Revenue Department, dated

7.8.2006, for the implementation of a new Scheme called

“The Tamil Nadu Agricultural Labourers-Farmers

(Social Security and Welfare) Scheme, 2006” in lieu of

the “Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Farmers Security Scheme”

2005. The Scheme is being implemented effectively by

Revenue Department with effect from 22.12.2006.

The Special Tahsildars (Social Security Scheme) are the

implementing authorities who are working under the

supervision of District Collectors. Tamil Nadu Agricultural

Labourers Welfare Board is monitoring the implementation of

80the Scheme at State level. The Director of Land Reforms acts

as its Member-Secretary. This scheme provides for relief /

financial assistance to the members as follows:-

Sl.No. Relief of Assistance Amount (in Rupees)

1. Accident Relief

(a) Death due to accident 1,00,000

(b) Loss of both hands 1,00,000

(c) Loss of both legs 1,00,000

(d) Loss of one hand and one leg

1,00,000

(e) Total and irrecoverable loss of sight in both eyes

1,00,000

(f) Loss of one hand or one leg

50,000

(g) Loss of limbs from grievous injuries other than those specified above

20,000

2. Natural Death 10,000

3. Funeral Expenses 2,500

4. Educational Assistance to son and daughter of the members

Day Scholar Hosteller

BOYS GIRLS BOYS GIRLS

(a) 10th Std. pass 1250 1500

(b) 12th Std. pass 1750 2000

(c) I.T.I. or Polytechnic (per year)

1250 1750 1450 1950

(d) Bachelor Degree (per year)

1750 2250 2000 2500

81Sl.No. Relief of Assistance Amount (in Rupees)

(e) Post Graduate (per year) 2250 2750 3250 3750

(f) Professional Courses (Law, Engineering etc.) (per year)

2250 2750 4250 4750

(g) Post Graduate Professional Courses (per year)

4250 4750 6250 6750

5. Marriage Assistance:

a) Marriage of Member

(i) Male 3000

(ii) Female 5000

b) Marriage of son or daughter of the Member

(i) Male 3000

(ii) Female 5000

6. Delivery or miscarriage of pregnancy or termination of pregnancy

(i) Delivery 6000 (@ Rs.1000/- per month for six months from seventh month of

pregnancy)

(ii) Miscarriage 3000

(iii) Termination 3000

7. Old age pension (per month) 400

The assistance given to the beneficiaries under this

scheme are detailed below:-

82

Year Assistance given (Rs. in crore) Beneficiaries

2006-2007 7.63 25,618

2007-2008 136.34 2,33,913

2008-2009 139.19 1,38,379

2009-2010

(Upto 28.2.2010)

132.29 1,12,594

Total 415.45 5,10,504

Under this scheme, 173 lakh persons belonging to

76 lakh families have been enrolled upto 28.02.2010. Welfare

assistance has been provided to 5.10 lakh beneficiaries to the

tune of Rs.415 crores so far. A sum of Rs.152 crores has

been allocated for implementing this scheme in the financial

year 2010-2011.

5.4 Bhoodan Board

The Bhoodan Yagna Movement was initiated by Sri

Acharya Vinoba Bhave in the year 1951. The donation of

land to Bhoodan Yagna is the Special feature of this

movement. Acharya Vinoba Bhave toured extensively to

various parts of Tamil Nadu between 13.3.1956 and

8318.4.1957. During this campaign, the landlords voluntarily

gifted lands to this movement. To facilitate the donation of

lands for the Bhoodan Yagna and for allotment of such lands

for the benefit of landless poor persons or for the community

purposes and to provide Gramdhan villages, the Tamil Nadu

Bhoodan Yagna Act 1958 was enacted and the Rules framed

in the year 1959.

Tamil Nadu Bhoodan Board has been reconstituted.

Hon’ble Minister for Khadi is the Chairman of the Board which

has 14 other members.

An extent of 28,060.41 acres of Bhoodan lands were

received so far, and 20,485.35 acres were distributed free of

cost to landless poor for agricultural purpose upto

06.02.2001.

5.5 Tamil Nadu Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act 1978

The Tamil Nadu Urban Land (Ceiling & Regulation) Act,

1978 (Based on Central Act 33 of 1976) was enacted with a

view to impose ceiling on vacant land in Urban

84Agglomerations to prevent concentration of urban land in the

hands of a few persons for speculation and profiteering

therein and to bring about an equitable distribution of lands

to subserve the common good. This Act came in to force

from 3.8.1976. This Act was implemented in Chennai City,

Chennai belt area, Tiruchirapalli, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Salem

and Coimbatore.

Tamil Nadu Urban Land (Ceiling & Regulation) Act 1978

was repealed with effect from 16.6.1999 by Act 20/1999.

The repeal Act provides saving clause to the lands which

were acquired and possession taken on behalf of

Government upto 15.6.1999. Consequent to the repeal of the

Act, Government issued guidelines in G.O.(Ms) No.353,

Revenue Department, dated 30.06.2000 for the disposal of

the acquired lands. The land thus acquired are being allotted

to various Government undertakings like Tamil Nadu Slum

Clearance Board, Local Bodies, Tamil Nadu Electricity Board,

Transport Corporations and Government Department in the

order of priority.

85Under this Act, an extent of 2472 Hectares of surplus

land was acquired. After excluding the lands allotted, lands

under litigation, encroachment and lands wherein acquisition

proceedings had abated as per Court orders, an extent of

1148 Hectares of surplus lands are available for allotment,

which includes the lands to be regularised under the

Innocent Purchasers Scheme.

(i) Regularisation Scheme for Innocent Purchasers

In order to alleviate the sufferings of the public who

have purchased the notified surplus lands for housing

purposes without knowing the fact of notification, the

Government announced a scheme of regularisation on

payment of cost fixed by the Government for the Urban Land

upto 1½ Ground in G.O.(Ms) No.649, Revenue Department,

dated 29.7.1998. Subsequently the scheme was rationalized

in G.O.(Ms) No.565, Revenue Department, dated 26.9.2008,

by enabling regularisation of all the purchase of lands by the

innocent buyers, irrespective of extent, by fixing the prorata

value according to the extent purchased.

86 The amount to be collected for regularisation of the said

lands, for different areas is given below:

Division Land value per ground fixed (in Rupees)

(1) (2)

(A) Chennai Urban Agglomeration

T.Nagar, Mylapore, Egmore, Tondiarpet

5,57,500

Poonamallee , Madavaram, Tambaram, Alandur, Kunrathur

55,750

Ambattur 22,300

(B) Other Urban Agglomerations

Salem 1,42,162

Coimbatore 66,343

Tiruchirapalli 47,388

Madurai 30,105

Tirunelveli 12,544

(i) The amount mentioned above shall be paid by the

persons who have purchased land upto 1½ grounds.

(ii) Two times of the land value mentioned above shall

be paid by the persons who have purchased land more than

1½ grounds and upto 3 grounds.

87 (iii) Three times of the land value mentioned above

shall be paid by the persons who have purchased more than

3 grounds.

The power to regularise the lands upto the extent of 1½

grounds is delegated to the Director of Urban Land Ceiling

and Urban Land Tax. The power to regularise such lands

exceeding 1½ grounds vests with the Government. So far,

808 cases were regularised and a sum of Rs.3.55 Crores was

collected upto 28.2.2010.

5.6 Tamil Nadu Urban Land Tax Act, 1966

Tamil Nadu Urban Land Tax Act 1966 was enacted in

Chennai city with effect from 1.7.1963. Under this Act, all

urban lands were assessed to urban land tax at a flat rate of

0.4 percent of its market value. The Act was then extended

to Towns of Tiruchirapalli, Madurai, Salem and Coimbatore

with effect from 1.7.1971. The Act was amended in 1975

which came into force with effect from 1.7.1975 extending

the provisions of the Act to the area lying within 16 K.M.

from the outer limits of Chennai City. The Act was further

88extended to Tirunelveli Corporation with effect from 1.7.1981

and 23 other Municipalities with effect from 1.7.1991. In all

these areas Urban Land Tax was levied based on the market

value as on 1.7.1981.

The slab rate for levy of Urban Land Tax is as follows:-

S.No All Urban lands in Chennai Corporation and other Corporation/Municipal

Areas.

All Urban lands in Chennai City Belt Area

1. First 2 grounds Nil First three grounds

Nil

2. Where the aggregate extent does not exceed five grounds.

0.7% of the market value

Where the aggregate extent does not exceed seven grounds

0.7% of the market value

3. Where the aggregate extent exceeds five but does not exceed 10 grounds

1% of the market value

Where the aggregate extent exceeds seven but does not exceed 10 grounds

1% of the market value

4. Where the aggregate extent exceeds ten but does not exceed 20 grounds

1.5% of the market value

Where the aggregate extent exceeds ten but does not exceed 20 grounds

1.5% of the market value

5. Where the aggregate extent exceeds 20 grounds

2% of the market value

Where the aggregate extent exceeds 20 grounds

2% of the market value

89According to Section 29 of the Act, lands owned by

Central Government, State Government, Local bodies, land

used as Public Roads, Public Libraries, Hospitals aided by

State Government, Public parks and Museums, Burial

Grounds, lands used for housing destitutes and orphanages

are exempted from levy of Urban Land Tax. Land exclusively

used for public worship, land notified as Slum, lands used by

Schools, Colleges which have been recognised by Tamil Nadu

Government and Universities are also exempted from the

levy of Urban Land Tax.

The Government may grant exemption from payment of

Urban Land Tax under section 27(1) of the Act in respect of

the lands owned by Charitable, Religious, Philanthropic and

other institutions, if the payment of Urban Land Tax causes

‘undue hardship’ to the above institutions. Further,

i) 50% tax concession is granted for owner’s

occupation in the residential building and in respect

of Sabhas, Clubs and Studios.

90ii) 25% tax concession is granted for certified Small

Scale Industries in respect of lands owned and

used by the owner of the land.

iii) 10% concession is granted to Cinema Theatres and

major industries.

Under the Amended Act 1991 a sum of Rs.40.19 crores

was levied as Urban Land Tax in 1,85,881 cases all over the

state as on 28.2.2010. After excluding the amount covered

by exemption under various categories and the demand

reduced on the basis of revised orders passed, the current

annual demand is arrived at Rs.19.00 crores. A sum of

Rs.9.55 crores (Arrear and current) has been collected from

April 2009 to February 2010. As on 01.3.2010 the Balance

collectable demand of Urban Land Tax is Rs. 95.12 Crores.

I. PERIASAMY MINISTER FOR REVENUE AND HOUSING