Ernakulam District Collector’s mass contact programme proves a balm for the public

KOCHI: The Taluk-level mass contact programme held by District Collector K Mohammed Y Safeerulla here on Thursday proved a balm to the public, helping to resolve as many as 118 complaints, some of which dating back several years.K Kuttappan from Edavanakkad has been one such beneficiary of the adalat which mainly dealt with issues pertaining to land transfer, boundary, resurvey and title deeds. Some 30 years ago, Kuttappan had bought four cents of lands using his life’s earnings. Though he  paid the yearly taxes without fail, he lost possession of the land following the resurvey in 2008.

Though the title deed clearly indicates the land’s ownership is vested with Kuttappan, the authorities denied him the right to pay the land tax as his name was not there on the resurvey report. Though he approached the village and Taluk office to get the issue resolved, nothing came out of it.  It was not until Thursday’s mass contact programme - when the Collector after verifying the records issued the necessary documents restoring ownership of the land -  Kuttappan could  get justice.

Similarly, the travails of  K K Dasan of Nayarambalam finally ended on a happy note at the mass contact programme.  Though Dasan had purchased the land in his wife’s name in 1990 he was denied permission to pay the tax on the land following the resurvey in 2008. After his wife passed away, things became even more difficult as the authorities claimed Kuttappan and his son had no legal rights over the land. With the technicalities relating to the land’s ownership being fixed, Dasan’s ordeal ended after 28 long years.

“More than 1,500 complaints were resolved at the taluk-level mass contact programmes  held  recently. Besides addressing people’s complaints, we will conduct a file adalat. This will help to resolve long-running land disputes at the Taluk offices,” the Collector told the programme. According to him, the major complaints pertaining to resurvey came from the Kanayannur and Kunnathunadu Taluk. “Within six months, the complaints from these two Taluks will be resolved  while the complaints from the other taluks will be resolved by August,” said Safeerulla.