Ranjit Rane, Ganpat Gaonkar, Manisha Usgaonkar and others submitting a representation regarding the Alvara land issue to Sattari Mamlatdar Dhirendra Banawalikar.
VALPOI
Unhappy over the prolonged delay in resolving the Alvara land ownership issue in Sattari taluka, farmers have petitioned the North Goa Collector, seeking simplification of the regularisation process to ensure justice for farmers and original landholders.
In a representation forwarded to Sattari Mamlatdar Dhirendra Banawalikar, they sought simpler documentation requirements, alternative ways to establish inheritance rights, translation of old Portuguese documents and an extension of the application deadline.
Several Sattari families have depended on Alvara lands for generations for agriculture, horticulture and residential purposes but face administrative and documentation hurdles in securing ownership rights. According to the representation, agriculture and animal husbandry were traditional occupations in Sattari. During Portuguese rule, lands were granted for cultivation, plantations and residential purposes under provisions associated with Decree No. 3602. These are commonly known as Alvara lands.
Rights could be acquired by fulfilling specified conditions and paying an annual amount called foro, or land rent, over 20 years or through a lump-sum payment. The farmers maintain that lands meeting these conditions should be treated as private property, with permanent status equivalent to Class I occupancy rights.
The representation states that the relevant decree came into existence around 1917 and that many original grantees had completed at least 20 years of lawful possession and use before Goa’s Liberation. Their descendants have reportedly held the lands for 80 to 100 years.
Of Sattari’s over 2,400 Alvara landholders, approximately 950 have applied to the Collector for regularisation, while more than 1,500 are yet to apply. Although the Collector’s office has forwarded files to the Mamlatdar’s office for inquiry, only around 25 landholders have reportedly completed the process there. Farmers say the remaining applicants are unable to produce the required documents, delaying resolution for years.
The representation calls for a simpler, transparent and accessible regularisation mechanism. It proposes allowing legal heirs to submit affidavits declaring their inheritance rights instead of succession certificates or inventory proceedings. Affidavits or statements from witnesses familiar with the families and their inheritance details should also be accepted to verify legal heirship.
