Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah wants to root out illegal properties on revenue lands. He has ordered officials of the urban development department and deputy commissioners of districts to identify such illegal properties across the state and issue their owners ‘B-khatas’ to hold them accountable and make them pay property taxes. Properties on layouts approved by competent authorities are granted A-Khatas; a B-khata is a form to regularise illegal properties constructed on layouts without approval. It’s estimated that there are more than 30 lakh such illegal properties across Karnataka. Siddaramaiah has set a deadline of three months from February 18 for all of them to be issued B-khatas. This is expected to increase state revenues, as those issued B-khatas will have to cough up property taxes.
Siddaramaiah is launching this drive not long after he himself was cleared of a land allotment scam involving his family. His conviction in ridding the state of illegal properties on revenue lands was apparent from his clear instruction to the officials: “There should be no room for unauthorised settlements in the state from now on.” He has warned them of strict action if unauthorised settlements are found in their respective districts after the deadline. However, the fact that so many illegal properties have sprung up across the state in the first place points to the connivance of builders, developers, realtors and officials of concerned government departments. That is the reason these property owners were able to get water and power connections—and even receive Aadhaar and voter IDs linked to those addresses—without paying property taxes. So those officials were part of the racket to deprive the state exchequer of due revenues. Simply put, as long as such corruption and collusion continues, Siddaramaiah’s stringent instruction against unauthorised settlements will not hold much water.
A sudden increase in population and migration in the face of limited land availability often pushes people towards the cheaper option of developing properties on revenue lands. This tendency is apparent across India and cannot happen without greasing the palms of corrupt officials. Unless an iron hand does not come down heavily on the corrupt, eliminating illegal properties will continue to remain a distant dream. Only stringently implemented anti-corruption measures—not mere words, however threatening they may sound—will work.