BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has initiated the process to simplify the revenue laws and introduce a unified code to make it easier for people to get justice. The Government had set up a committee headed by the member, Board of Revenue which has prepared the Odisha Land and Revenue Code. Now, the existing seven revenue laws have as many as 299 sections. However, the draft code has only 112 sections.
Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Maheswar Mohanty told mediapersons that the draft code will be referred to the Law Department for scrutiny. Opinion of the general public will also be taken on the draft code, he said and added that the final draft code will be prepared after that.Sources in the department said most of the laws have no relevance now and they need to be simplified. A unified code is required to be enacted as it would be easier for the commonman to understand. Besides, it will also be easier for the revenue officials to provide justice to the people. The Revenue Minister has already reviewed the progress of the move in several meetings of the department officials.
Sources said the committee has finalised the draft code taking into consideration the provisions of the draft Odisha Land Revenue Administration Bill, 2007 and changes effected in the revenue laws thereafter. Though the 2007 Bill was prepared to have a unified revenue code by consolidating and simplifying various laws currently in force, there was no progress in this regard.
Meanwhile, revenue administration has undergone several changes. The Odisha Special Survey and Settlement Act, 2012 has been enacted incorporating provisions of high-tech survey. Besides, the State Government has taken a policy decision to discontinue consolidation operation. Cases under Section-8A of Odisha Land Reforms Act, 1960 have been automated as a part of ‘Ease of Doing Business’. Besides, several e-governance initiatives have been launched by the Government.
The draft revenue code has been prepared taking into consideration all these developments. Sources said the main purpose of the proposed unified revenue code is to end the numerous laws and introduce simplified procedures enabling provisions for speedy disposal of the revenue cases to benefit the public.
