THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Before you apply for a bank loan using your land as collateral or try to transfer that land to another person, ensure that the Revenue records are updated with the correct ownership details. Chances are that you may be paying the land tax in your name but the land will still be in the name of the previous owner in the official records.
Anitha (name changed), a resident of the capital realised it only when she approached a cooperative bank for a loan against land as collateral. The bank's legal team told her that the owner as per Revenue records is still her father. Anitha had got the land transferred in her name and has been paying the tax after mutation. After making many inquiries, she came to know that it was the ongoing resurvey process which resulted in the fiasco.
There are a number of people like Anitha who are forced to run from pillar to post to get the errors rectified for no fault of theirs. After approaching the District Collectorate, directions were issued to the taluk concerned to affect the changes. However, rectifying resurvey anomalies needs a fresh field visit and officials are not willing to do it in the present scenario.
"When I approached the taluk office, I was told by the officer concerned that field visit was not possible due to the Covid-19 situation. I need the loan urgently and bank officials say they are helpless unless the land records are updated," Anitha said.
"An Additional Tahsildar has been designated at the taluk level for examining such Land Record Maintenance cases and to rectify anomalies related to resurvey. The Covid situation has affected field visits but we are trying to dispose most of the cases at the earliest," said C A Latha, Land Revenue Commissioner.
According to Revenue officials, the errors regarding ownership in the wake of the resurvey was due to lack of proper integration of land ownership data with the Departments of Registration, Revenue and Survey Departments.
Though re-survey had begun decades ago, it is still an ongoing process that has been completed only in 54 per cent of the 1,654 villages.
"An integrated software for the Departments of Registration, Revenue and Survey is on the anvil. This will ensure that updated information regarding land is available to all three departments. Once such an integration is ensured, resurvey related anomalies can be avoided to a large extent, "said Survey Director R Girija.