PANAJI
Ahead of a crucial meeting on Monday, the District Magistrate (North Goa) on Saturday received the action taken report (ATR) into ample discrepancies in Alvara land records across the taluka.
North Collector Sneha Gitte, on Friday, issued a 24-hour deadline for Deputy Collectors and Mamlatdars to also carry out rectifications including inquiry and action against those including in Sattari taluka for disposing cases without prior permission.
The meeting on February 3 will deliberate on the ATR on the audit findings, which highlighted multiple discrepancies in land records including 104 out of 300 Record of Rights (RORs) erroneously listing private persons instead of Government of Goa as the rightful owner, the irregular sale of 11 lease-held lands totalling 88.12 hectares, failure to update records for 15 reverted lands covering 125.26 hectares, etc.
The report, which will now be forwarded to the government for further action, is likely to contain details wherein the wrongly entered names in 104 cases are rectified and records updated.
The Collector had also sought an inquiry and to initiate necessary action against the violator for disposing the Alvara lands without obtaining prior permission of the Collector and/or government; ensure that 15 Alvara reverted land are updated in the records of Rights so that no further transaction are effected by the parties.
The Deputy Collector and SDO (Sattari) and Mamlatdar of Sattari taluka were also directed compliance and submission of ATR to this office within 24 hours. “This report will also be submitted to the government and Revenue Department on Monday,” the source said.
A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for the financial year ending March 31, 2015, lamented the government’s inadequate investigation into large-scale irregularities concerning land granted under the Alvara system. This prompted the government to constitute a six-member committee, chaired by retired Collector N D Agarwal, to examine the CAG’s findings, which identified illegal sales despite legal restrictions on such land transfers.
In the latest development, a closer review of RORs revealed that in four cases, private persons were listed as occupants, while the “Other Rights” column correctly indicated the government’s ownership under the Alvara provisions. However, Mamlatdars had erroneously mutated these records in favour of buyers, which will now be a part of government inquiry.
In one particular case, a sale deed was executed in 1983 for Alvara land, even though the ROR identified the Government of Goa as the occupant. Despite this, the land was sold and registered in favour of private parties. The report cited the necessity of identifying all lands granted under Decree No. 3602 of 1917 and establishing a comprehensive database linking lease records with current RORs and survey maps.
According to records from the Directorate of Settlement and Land Records (DSLR), about 16,617 hectares of government land had been leased to private persons.
The 2015 audit report noted that lease-held land records were never integrated with post-liberation RORs, leaving government ownership rights ambiguous.
“This has been exploited in some cases to sell lands held on lease and the buyers have got mutations done in their favour. In some cases, the leased lands/parts thereof have been reverted… A comprehensive database incorporating all such cases with present RORs and survey numbers has not been prepared…” the audit report stated.
The report recommended several corrective measures, including identifying all lands leased under Decree No. 3602 of 1917 and creating a comprehensive database linking lease records with current RORs and survey maps; updating RORs to clearly reflect government ownership and ensuring revenue authorities prevent unauthorized mutations; identifying reverted lands and updating records accordingly and reviewing the premium structure to align Class-I occupancy grants with current market rates.
