THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Land Board, which is the custodian of all government lands and which helps the government to safeguard all public lands in the state, still remains a temporary body in the revenue department.
Since the State Land Board has strategic importance, the demand for converting it into a permanent body has gained strength in many quarters.
The State Land Board and the Taluk Land Boards, which had been formed soon after the Kerala Land Reforms Act came into force, are still maintained as temporary offices and their terms are extended from time to time.
Since the land board is the custodian of all public lands, it has been widely argued that the State Land Board and the Taluk Land Boards should be converted from being temporary to permanent offices. When contacted, Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash said that no one has brought the issue to his notice till now.
“It should be looked into why till now the Land Board and the Taluk Land Boards, which are the true custodians of all public lands, are still temporary bodies,” he said while agreeing that it is high time that the State Land Board and the Taluk land Board are converted to permanent bodies.
Land Board Secretary Mary Kutty said that the Land Board and the Taluk Land Boards must be converted into permanent offices. However, she also said that no issues have cropped up till now as the government had been giving extending its term every year.
The State Land Board deals with all the excess, surplus and plantation lands. All the ceiling cases are also dealt by the land board. The maintenance and updating of land records, assignment of Government lands in public interest, acquisition of land for public purposes and transfer of Government lands between departments comes under the land board.
With land acquisitions, ceiling cases and encroachments on a rise, the role played by State Land Boards can not be ignored, officials said. Land board is an integral part of the revenue department and the government cannot ignore it, the officials said.
The government, which has been creating new taluk and village offices, should seriously think about giving a permanent status to the land board.