PANAJI
Moving ahead with its plan to regularize illegal or unauthorized houses constructed on non-government land, the State has put in place a ten-member committee to recommend suitable legislation or amendment to the existing law for regularization or granting ownership rights of these residential structures.
The committee headed by senior advocate Ramchandran Ramani will also examine and recommend policy intervention for the sustainable use and management of land resources in the State and to study the impact of various development and other activities on non-Government land.
In an order issued by Under Secretary Revenue Vrushika Kauthankar, it is said that the committee will examine the issue of irregular use and unauthorized construction of residential houses on non-Government land and explore the feasibility of proposing suitable regularization measures wherever appropriate in accordance with public interest and legal permissibility.
She said that the committee will also study cases where residential houses have been constructed and are in existence for several years on non-Governmental land without ownership rights and to suggest appropriate legal, policy or administrative measures for conferring ownership and regularising such dwelling units, subject to eligibility and public interest.
“Committee to recommend suitable legislation, amendments or simplification of existing procedure to facilitate the objectives while ensuring optimum utilization and effective conservation of land resource in the State,” the order stated.
While Ramani is the Chairman, the members of the committee include some other legal experts like Adv Aires Pinto Furtado, Adv. Amrut Ghatwal, Adv. Pritam Moraes and Adv Prasad Naik.
Director of Panchayat Siddhi Halarnkar, Joint Secretary Revenue Surendra Naik, Director of Settlement and Land Records Chandrakant Shetkar and Dr Balaji Shenvy of Directorate of Archives as its members. Additional Collector North Gurudas Desai is appointed as the member secretary.
The committee has to submit its report within a period of three months.
The government has already decided to come up with the legislations to regularize unauthorized structures located on the government and comunidade land in the upcoming monsoon session of the State Legislative Assembly.
