Database of land use in Maharashtra under way

The revenue department has begun the process of creating a data bank on all government land in the state.
This measure follows a stricture in the recent CAGs report that data on land given on lease is not available with the department.
Swadhin Kshatriya,principal secretary,revenue and forests department,said they had taken the CAGs comment seriously and wanted to ensure that the government had a data bank of its land.
The data bank will be created at various levels such as the village,tehsil,collector and sub-division,he said.
The long-term aim,he said,was to monitor how the land was being used and whether the terms and conditions set by the government were being followed.
During the recent legislative session,speaker Dilip Walse-Patil had directed the state government to order a CBI inquiry after it was brought to the notice of the House how the city collectorate had woken up 17 years after the lease agreement for a 75,000 sq feet plot in Mazgaon had expired.
On Monday,the department issued a circular to all departments dealing with land to update their records on land given on lease,the status of lease,the rent being charged and whether the lease conditions had been violated.
The CAG report brought out irregularities in land allotment to various educational institutes promoted by politicians.It was critical of the government for failing to collect rent from these leased plots.