50 new firkas, 25 new villages, additional revenue posts to be created for better implementation of welfare schemes, says K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran

Chennai, Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram to receive additional revenue inspectors for welfare schemes and disaster management.

Chennai, Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and several districts with a growth in population will get additional revenue inspectors for administering 50 new firkas, said Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran on Thursday.

Speaking on the floor of the Assembly during the discussion on Demand for Grants for his department, he said the creation of 50 new firkas, comprising a group of villages, headed by a revenue inspector, would strengthen implementation of welfare schemes for residents in thickly populated cities. It would also help bolster disaster management efforts, he added.

Chennai district would get 14 new firkas, Chengalpattu 4, Tiruvallur 2 and Kancheepuram 2. Madurai woul get 7 new firkas while Salem would get 4. For Tirunelveli, it would be 3 additional frikas. Cities such as Thoothukudi, Thiruvannamalai, Erode, Tirupattur, Dindigul, Cuddalore, Thanjavur, Tiruppur and Villupuram would get one firka each.

Pointing to the role of revenue inspectors in land revenue, field verification and supervision of village administrative officers, Mr. Ramachandran said the welfare schemes should also reach the residents as speedily as possible. The government would also create 25 new revenue villages in districts such as Chengalpattu, Tiruchi and Madurai. As many as 26 new posts of Deputy Tahsildar (headquarters) would be created in areas such as Alandur, Sholinganallur, Madhavaram, Ambattur and Maduravoyal in Chennai district, Pallavaram in Chengalpattu district and Pallipattu in Tiruvallur district. The taluk level administration is expected to improve, for rendering services like issuance of patta, chitta, adangal, collection of land revenue and issuance of certificates of income, community, nativity and legal heir, he said.

During the past four years, four new revenue taluks, including Kolathur taluk in Chennai, had been added, increasing the number of taluks to 317 in the State. Currently, there are 1,197 firkas and 16,744 villages in the 38 districts of the State. Even as the government had been increasing the higher level posts in revenue department, the number of employees in the clerical cadre had not been increased for several years, affecting services to residents.

Residents have demanded that the government increase the number of clerks who played a key role in processing the petitions received from the residents, before the Tahsildar or the Deputy Tahsildar or a Revenue Inspector took a decision.