Bichitrananda Nayak of the Odisha Administrative Service is presently placed under the Board of Revenue. He is widely known for his articles in journals on economic issues and has earned great acclaim. He has special interest in revenue laws and has formed opinions in the land and revenue laws with an authoritative command over them. During his student carrier, he was the literacy Champion and the Best Debater of Ravenshaw College. He has also earned a good name as a brilliant compeer in All India Radio, Cuttack during his salad days there. He spends his time in reading, writing and withdraws himself to the lap of nature often and anon to keep his boredom at bay. In an interview to The Pioneer, Nayak spoke to Sugyan Choudhury.
GST is considered as a major tax reform. Has it benefited the publicIJ
Definitely. GST or Goods and Services Tax is a single indirect tax for the entire country which has replaced many indirect taxes. It is a comprehensive, multi-stage, destination-based tax which is levied on every value addition. It is levied on supply of goods and services. Prior to GST in the indirect tax regime, there was a lot of overlapping of taxes levied by both State and Centre. That led to tax on tax known as cascading effects of taxes which ultimately burdened the consumers. GST eliminates the cascading effect of indirect taxes due to the fact that it is calculated only on the value added at each stage of transfer of ownership, i.e., from the manufacturer to the wholesaler, from the wholesaler to the retailer and from the retailer to the consumer. So, consumers are likely to be benefitted ultimately. The silver lining is that there is a high-level GST Council which decides the rate of GST to be levied. For example, the Government reduced the GST rates in respects of 200 goods in November 2017. The GST as a uniform tax law integrated the country by removing indirect tax barriers between the States and improvement of collection of taxes which has boosted development of Indian economy.
The Odisha Government is working on a single Revenue Code. Would you like to highlight on the need and benefits of such a Revenue CodeIJ
It is a fact that the Government of Odisha’s Revenue Department has constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Member, Board of Revenue to frame a Revenue Code taking into consideration the provisions of the draft Odisha land Revenue Administration Bill, 2007 and changes effected in the revenue laws thereafter.
The need for a single Revenue Code arises out of the fact that there are many revenue Acts in vogue in Odisha governing the land revenue administration which were enacted years back and are unable to meet the changing needs. Existence of so many revenue Acts and Rules often create confusion among the field-level revenue functionaries in interpretation of such laws which ultimately leads to delay in disposal of cases and sufferings for the public. The Odisha land Revenue Administration Bill, 2007 was prepared with a view to having a single Revenue Code by consolidating and simplifying various laws currently in force. But the same was not finalised due to certain reasons.
Meanwhile, the revenue administration has undergone several changes. For example, the Odisha Special survey and Settlement Act, 2012 has been enacted incorporating provisions of high-tech survey. Consolidation operation has been discontinued as a policy decision; cases under Section-8A of OlR Act, 1960 have been automated as a measure of ‘Ease of Doing Business’. Apart from that, some other e-governance initiatives have been introduced. The Government is also contemplating introduction of online payment of land revenue. All these factors shall be considered and incorporated in the proposed Revenue Code.
The main purpose of the proposed revenue laws is to end the numerous laws and introduction of a single code having simplified procedures and enabling provisions for speedy disposal of the revenue cases which will benefit the public.
Can you mention about composition of the committee headed by Member, Board of RevenueIJ
The Secretary, Board of Revenue is the member-convener of the committee. The Director, land Records and Surveys and Consolidation and the land Reforms Commissioner are the official members. Four retired officers having sound knowledge on revenue laws are members and three advocates having profound knowledge in revenue laws are also members of the committee. Besides, representatives of NIC and OCAC have been made members to help incorporate the provisions of e-governance initiatives in the proposed Revenue Code.
What are the e-governance initiatives adopted by the Revenue DepartmentIJ
E-governance initiatives like e-registration, e-mutation, Bhulekh, Bhunaksha, DMS (Document Management System), WDIST (Dynamic Web Information System of Tehsildar), RCCMS (Revenue Court Monitoring System) and MTA (Manual of Tehsil Accounts) have been under implementation so far as the revenue administration is concerned. These online services through the IT initiatives are designed to act upon the 3-Ts (teamwork, technology & transparency) principle of the Chief Minister towards good governance. The initiatives will expedite the process of service delivery to the people in a time-bound manner.
What is e-mutationIJ
Record of Rights and map finally published or deemed to be published under the Survey and Settlement Act, 1958 require maintenance to keep it up to date for various reasons. The changes are done through mutation proceedings. The Tehsildar including the Additional Tehsildar and RIs (in case of uncontested cases) have been empowered for allowing mutation. A mutation case may arise due to sale of property, inheritance, partition, willnama, gift, relinqishment, conversion U/s-8-A of OlR Act, mutual partition U/s-19 (1) (c) of OlR Act, settlement of land under OPlE Act, OGlS Act, OEA Act and court orders. E-mutation otherwise known as land Records Management System (lRMS) is a transaction-based online system for correction of RORs. When a property registration is approved by the Registering Officer, Form No.3 containing the details of parties and properties involved in the transaction is automatically transmitted to the Tehsildar by online mode. In other cases, the applicant can submit the application for mutation at the Tehasil with a single-window operator.
The Tehsildar initiates mutation case on receipt of Form No.3 application or through single-window operator in the online system. Then the Tehsil Record Keeper is asked to verify the status of the record. Simultaneously, a general notice is served and report of the RI is also obtained online. On verification of the records and report of the RI and after expiry of the objection period, the mutation is allowed and the Record-of-Rights updated and final ROR is generated and supplied to the parties concerned.
The lRMS is a faster, accurate, transparent and authentic way of updating the Record of Rights which will bring transparency and zero pendency of mutation cases through regular monitoring by different authorities.