Tenants’ children may get tenancy rights

NT NETWORK

PANAJI

Revenue Minister Rohan Khaunte on Friday stated that the government is in the process of amending the Tenancy Act for providing tenancy rights to the children of the tenants, so that they can be the members of the tenant associations.

“However, the voting rights vis-à-vis such associations would be imparted to only those children of the tenants, who actually cultivate the land,” he added, pointing out that the amendment to the act has gone for vetting before the law department.

Khaunte was responding to a private member’s resolution tabled by Congress MLA Dayanand Sopte as regards the creation of a special mamlatdar court for the purpose of implementing the Goa, Daman and Diu Agricultural Tenancy Act, 1964, and the Land to the Tiller Act, 1976, within the specified period of time, and further updating the revenue records by incorporating the name of the tenant, with the tenant declared as the deemed owner.

The Revenue Minister said  the tenants would receive justice within a period of three  years, adding that the pendency of tenancy cases has been considerably reduced.

He further informed that Saturday courts at the taluka revenue offices

will further result in speedy disposal of cases.

Demanding that the special mamlatdar court be created only for implementing these acts within a specific timeframe, Sopte said that  revenue records be updated by incorporating the name of the tenant and the tenant should be declared as ‘deemed owner’.

The minister said the government has already put in place an IT-enabled system to monitor the disposal of cases in the court.

The resolution was later withdrawn by Sopte

Meanwhile, Khaunte  said  the government machinery will act in illegal land filling and hill cutting matters without giving notices and without taking such cases to the court.

“The government will restore the land and the restoration cost will  be recovered from the owner,” he added.

Addressing media persons on the newly-passed amendments to the Goa Land Revenue Code (amendment) bill, 2018, which will empower the government to take action against the land-filling in eco-sensitive areas as well as their restoration, Khaunte said that furthermore the government is contemplating enactment of a legislation, wherein the sale of agricultural land to non-agriculturists would be banned.

“This is a move to preserve the identity of Goa, which was the main reason behind the demand for granting Special Status to the state,” he added.