Minister hopeful of Centre considering State’s drought relief request

Revenue Minister Byregowda expresses confidence Union govt. will act positively on drought relief. Delegation met Agriculture & Home dept. secretaries in Delhi. Compensation to be released online to avoid misuse. Officers instructed to upload land details, draw Akharband, dispose of cases, implement e-office, issue notifications, mitigate water crises & buy electricity from other states.

Revenue Minister Krishna Byregowda has expressed the confidence that the Union government may act positively to release compensation for the drought-hit taluks in the State as a delegation comprising Agriculture Minister N. Chaluvarayaswamy, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge and himself met the Secretaries of the Agriculture and the Home departments in Delhi and explained the drought situation to them.

He was addressing a press conference in Yadgir after attending a meeting of officials on Thursday.

Mr. Byregowda said that they could not meet the Union Revenue and the Home Ministers. “We are ready to meet them whenever an appointment with them comes. We will explain the drought situation. I hope the Union government will act positively and send a team to assess crop loss in the State,” he added.

The Minister said that the State government has, meanwhile, decided to release compensation to the affected farmers through online payment. Details of land taken up for sowing and crop damage are not yet available in the database. “Thus, officials have been directed to upload such details in the system within two weeks enabling us to release compensation to the affected farmers promptly,” he added.

He also said that officers have been instructed to draw up Akharband of land that have differences in actuality and in Column Nos 3 and 9 in the RTC. He said that the Assistant Commissioner and Tahsildars of all revenue taluks have been asked to dispose of cases that are pending beyond 180 days before their courts by the end of November.

Mr. Byregowda said that the Deputy Commissioner’s Office and Tahsildars offices should implement e-office within two weeks. If such a system is implemented, the higher authorities will be able to see the details of pending files related to the Revenue Department. Therefore, the Deputy Commissioner has been told to supervise this work. He has been asked to ensure that e-office is implemented properly.

When asked about the revenue villages announced recently, the Minister said that 93 tandas and hattis have been identified as revenue villages. And, rights of records have been issued to 24 villages, though final notifications are not yet issued for such villages. Until final notifications are issued, rights of records will not be legalised. Hence, officers have been directed to issue final notifications before January, by calling for objections.