Odisha govt streamlines process to declare more than 4,000 hamlets as revenue villages

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], July 29 : Odisha Government has paved the way for the creation of more than 4,000 hamlets as revenue villages, thereby ensuring these revenue units get the benefits of the government's developmental schemes and programmes.
As per the Revenue Department, "Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has approved a proposal of the Department of Revenue and Disaster Management (DoR&DM) for streamlining the process of creation of new revenue villages out of hamlets."
Principal Secretary, DoR&DM Bishnupada Sethi on Wednesday has asked the district collectors to follow the guidelines approved by the Chief Minister in this regard.
As per the new guidelines, the hamlet that is to be declared as the new revenue village is to be located at more than half-a-kilometre from the mother revenue village with a population of 250 or more.
Similarly, a hamlet to be declared as a new revenue village lying within half-a-kilometre from the mother village should have a population more than 300. Hamlet separated from the mother village by a natural barrier can be reorganised as a new revenue village even if the population of the hamlet is less than 250, informed an official release.
The Principal Secretary DoR&DM has asked the district collectors not to insist upon the reservation limit for Gochar and Communal land for the creation of a new revenue village out of existing mother village. "However, residents of the newly carved out village shall still have access to existing Gochar and Communal land situated in mother village" he said clarifying that all Communal as well as Gochar lands etc shall be Common Property Resources (CPR) for both the villages.
Under the existing revenue laws, there is no specific provision for reservation of land upto a particular extent for Gochar and Communal purpose in connection with the creation of a new revenue village out of a hamlet.
"The matter of creation of new villages has been agitated several times in the Legislative Assembly and other forums. Most of the proposals were not being considered in view of the shortage of Gochar and Communal land. Certain executive instructions issued long back for reservation of land in course of settlement and consolidation operation have been misinterpreted by field officers when considering the creation of new revenue village", Sethi said.
"By not creating new Revenue Villages, the state was also being deprived of resources which would have been otherwise available under different Government grants/ schemes. By not insisting upon reservation limit, State will now create approximately 4000 new villages which would benefit the people", said Sethi while informing the district collectors that these directives shall supersede all previous instructions of the government in this matter.