BHUBANESWAR: As the problem pertaining to sale and registration of part-plots in urban areas and areas under different development authorities of the Housing and Urban Development department persists, Revenue minister Suresh Pujari on Tuesday said the government is set to come out with a new regulatory framework to deal with these issues soon.
Speaking to mediapersons here, Pujari said the department is giving a final shape to the proposed regulations and the new framework will most likely be issued in November.
He said the problem faced by the people during sale and registration of part-plots and apartments is due to lack of inter-departmental coordination. “The previous BJD government did not address the issue in right earnest. We realised the problem faced by the people after our government assumed office. Coordination between Urban Development and Revenue departments was initiated to resolve the issue. Development authorities and Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) which play a major role in resolving these issues were brought on board. The government is all set to come out with a new set of regulations to deal with these issues,” Pujari said.
The minister added that right to sale and purchase land is the basic right of the people and they should not face any inconvenience due to legal issues. The state government issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) in June this year for registration of part-plots as many of the registering officers were not fully conversant with the provisions and procedures. The SOP was issued after detecting large number of irregularities in land sale and registration, he said.
Meanwhile, the Revenue department has initiated departmental proceedings against 300 officials in the offices of sub-registrar for their alleged involvement in regularising sale of part-plots by violating the norms. Charge sheets have been filed against some of the officials.
Sources conversant with the land registration process said the SOP is mostly to deal with cases in rural areas. Registration of sub-plots (part of a land parcel) is not allowed under the Registration (Odisha Amendment) Act, 2013.
Even after the new SOP, sale and registration of sub-plots have come to a halt as sub-registrars are arbitrarily refusing to entertain any cases relating to it, the sources said.
The other problem faced during sale of land in areas administered by development authorities is the change of land zone arbitrarily without approval of the Revenue department, they added.
