CHENNAI: A government order (G.O.) issued by the revenue department on September 30 last year, following a meeting chaired by then Chief Secretary N Muruganandam during the DMK regime, held that the HR&CE department’s decision to block pattas of inam lands in the official revenue and registration records was arbitrary and had been carried out without the approval of either the state government or the revenue department.
According to official estimates, around 13 lakh acres of inam lands for which ryotwari pattas had been issued under the Tamil Nadu Minor Inams (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1963, have been blocked by the HR& CE department since 2019. Nearly 30 lakh people reside on these lands, which comprise residential plots, agricultural holdings and commercial properties.
The pattas were rendered ineffective and the guideline value of the properties was reduced to zero in Tamil Nilam, the state’s land registration database. As a result, lakhs of landowners holding valid pattas issued since 1963 have been unable to register property transactions, obtain bank loans, construct houses or avail themselves of crop loans.
Against this backdrop, restrictions were lifted on 3,084.95 acres of inam land spread across 471 survey numbers in Karur district. The remaining such lands with valid titles are currently being scrutinised jointly by the revenue and HR&CE departments.
The G.O. issued by P Amudha, the then Additional Chief Secretary of the revenue department, noted that officials of the HR&CE had been sending communications to sub-registrars and revenue officials seeking cancellation of pattas for inam lands and blocking of property transactions on the Tamil Nilam portal based on pre-UDR (updating of revenue records) entries and the Inam Fair Register.
They had also sought transfer of such lands in the names of temples. However, the revenue department pointed out that the UDR records were updated between 1979 and 1984. “Such actions were arbitrary, procedurally improper and undertaken without the approval of either the government or the revenue department,” the G.O. stated.
Multiple sources from the revenue department told TNIE that since 2018, the guideline values of several categories of government lands –including anadheenam lands, waterbodies, temple lands, Waqf Board properties, Depressed Class lands originally assigned to landless SC/ST families during the British period and after Independence, and other poramboke lands – had been reduced to zero in the Tamil Nilam software to prevent transfer of ownership.
“The survey numbers sent to sub-registrars for blocking were based on pre-UDR revenue records dating back to the 1950s and even earlier. However, the UDR exercise carried out between 1979 and 1984 superseded those records. While there is no legal provision to convert Depressed Class, waterbodies and anadheenam lands into regular pattas, ryotwari pattas were legally issued for eligible inam lands under the Tamil Nadu Minor Inams (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1963. Therefore, the HR&CE department should not have blocked inam lands that already have valid titles,” said a senior official from the revenue department. The errors committed by the HR&CE officials are now being rectified, added the officials.
Another official explained that there are two categories of temple inam lands in Tamil Nadu. “The first comprises lands granted directly to temple deities for their perpetual maintenance, daily rituals, festivals and upkeep, or to meet the expenses of temple administration. The second category consists of lands granted to individual temple servants or artisans – such as archakas, musicians and other hereditary service holders –as remuneration for performing their duties.”
As a large portion of inam lands had remained poorly administered for decades, the then Madras State enacted the Tamil Nadu Minor Inams (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1963, to bring these lands under the regular revenue administration, providing land rights through ryotwari pattas to eligible occupants and, at the same time, safeguard lands that legitimately belonged to temples.
Official says errors being rectified now
Ryotwari pattas were legally issued for eligible inam lands under the Tamil Nadu Minor Inams (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1963. The HR&CE department should not have blocked inam lands that already have valid titles, said an official from the revenue department. The errors are now being rectified, he said