The Odisha Government has initiated a process to accord revenue village tag to 4,000 hamlets.
Following an approval of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Revenue and Disaster Management Principal Secretary Bishnupada Sethi has issued detailed guidelines for declaration of new revenue villages. The District Collectors have been asked to follow the same.
As per the guidelines issued, the hamlets located at more than half km from the mother revenue village with a population of 250 or more will get the revenue village tag.
The hamlet lying within half km from the mother village and having a population more than 300 will also be eligible to be declared as revenue village.
Similarly, the hamlet separated from the mother village by a natural barrier even if the population of the hamlet is less than 250 can be constituted to a separate village.
Reservation limit for Gochar and communal land for creation of new revenue village out of existing mother village shall not be insisted upon, Principal Secretary Sethi said.
However, residents of the newly carved out villages shall still have access to the existing Gochar and communal land situated in the mother village. It means, all Gochar and communal purpose lands etc, shall be common property resources for both the villages, he said.
Under the existing revenue laws, there is no specific provision for reservation of land up to a particular extent for Gochar and communal purpose in connection with creation of a new revenue village out of a hamlet.