Bhubaneswar: In view of paucity of land for developmental projects and infrastructure, state government has instructed all administrative heads to return unutilised or surplus land under their possession to the latter.
Revenue and Disaster Management Secretary Nikunja Bihari Dhal has written to secretaries all departments to relinquish government land alienated/recorded in favour of the departments as surplus for their need or lying unutilised.
“Demand for government land for various developmental projects and infrastructural activities has increased manifold. However, due to growing land scarcity, it has become difficult on the part of this department to make land of required extent available for various projects including those being funded by the state exchequer,” Dhal said in his letter.
On occasions, he said, land reserved for specific purpose in RoR (Record of Rights) are now required to be de-reserved for other public purposes.
In 2013, the Revenue Department had formulated a policy to buy private land for social development projects due to scarcity of government land.
It has now come to the government’s notice that large tracts of land alienated or recorded in favour of some departments across the state is either lying unused or not being optimally utilised. In some cases, un-utilised parcels of land have been encroached upon by unscrupulous elements, the secretary said and instructed the secretaries to adopt tough policy in the use of government land particularly in urban, semi-urban and fast developing towns.
“If the aforesaid unutilised land and land which is not needed for use in the medium-term is relinquished to revenue department, it can be subsequently utilised for other developmental/ infrastructural projects thereby leading to overall economic growth in the state,” read the letter.
The secretaries have been advised to instruct all field level officials to make a survey of land recorded in the name of the department and to assess whether the land or any part thereof is lying unused or found surplus.
The same instruction has also been forwarded to all District Collectors.