CHENNAI: In a move to reduce delays and public hardship in obtaining community and other certificates, the revenue department has reduced the number of scrutiny stages for issuing several certificates from four to three, with effect from next week. The change will enable deputy tahsildars, instead of tahsildars, to issue 12 certificates, including first-graduate and deserted woman certificates.
The department has also delegated the powers to issue four certificates — SC and OBC community certificates, legal heir certificates, and pawn broker licences — to tahsildars of the Social Security Scheme, instead of the regular taluk tahsildars, who are also responsible for patta-related matters and maintaining law and order.
There will be no change in the existing procedure for issuing Scheduled Tribe certificates, as the power to issue them continues to rest with the Revenue Divisional Officer.
Under the revised system, people can track the various stages of their online applications through the TN e-Governance Agency portal. The move is expected to reduce the time taken to issue 16 of the 27 certificates provided through the TNeGA to five days from the current two to three weeks. It will also enable taluk tahsildars to clear pending applications, particularly those related to sub-division transfers.
Following Minister K A Sengottaiyan’s announcement in the Assembly on August 17, the department secretary, K S Palanisamy, recently issued a G.O. detailing the revised procedures. According to the order, deputy tahsildars will be empowered to issue 12 certificates, including agricultural income, widow, unemployment, family migration, small and marginal farmer, loss of educational records due to disasters, unmarried, normal child, and money-lender licence.
Applications received by the village administrative officer (VAO) will be forwarded to the revenue inspector and then to the deputy tahsildar. In villages where there is no VAO post, applications received by the revenue inspector will be directly forwarded to the deputy tahsildar.
On the changes being made to the TNeGA system, a senior revenue official said, “Applicants will be able to view the status from next week. Once an application is approved, they can download the digitally signed certificate themselves. No physical copies of the certificates will be issued.” After reviewing these changes, the issuance procedure for 10 more certificates will also be simplified, the official added.
Procedural changes
Applications will be processed within five days, against the current two to three weeks
Tahsildars (Social Security Scheme) will issue four certificates; deputy tahsildars will issue 12 certificates
Application status can be tracked in real-time through TNeGA portal
ST certificates will continue to be issued by RDOs