Disposal of Land Cases Falling as Assam Board of Revenue Cannot Match Pace

Assam Board of Revenue not keeping pace with time

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, July 25: Is the Assam Board of Revenue is of the old school – not keeping pace with the changing office ambience in modern times? It has its ramifications on the disposal of revenue-related cases.

The Board continues to do office works in the age-old system – manually maintaining office registers without going for online and computerized system. One of the immediate and visible ramifications of this online-shyness of the Board is the fall in the number of disposal of revenue related cases since 2015 even as the number of case registration has been more or less unchanged.

Talking to this reporter, a top-level official of the Board said: “All revenue-related cases, including land revenue, are registered and disposed of in this Board. In land related cases, we follow the Assam Land and Revenue Regulations, 1886 and the Rules under it. If a person is not satisfied with land deals done at revenue circle and deputy commissioner levels, the person can move this Board with a plea. If the person is not happy with the verdict of this Board, he’s at liberty to move the high court.”

According to office records, the board registered as many as 720 land-related cases from 2012 to July 24, 2018 – 167 in 2012, 110 in 2013, 89 in 2014, 101 in 2015, 111 in 2016, 87 in 2017 and 55 till July 24, 2018. The board, however, has been cutting a sorry figure in the disposal of land-related cases since 2015. The disposal of cases was quite impressive from 2012 to 2014. The Board could dispose of the highest number of 208 cases in 2014. However, after that the number of disposal of cases has been maintaining a downward trend – 73 in 2015, 51 in 2016, 17 in 2017 and 43 till July 10, 2018. This is despite the fact that the Board is manned by almost its full strength. It has all the four members, including the Chairman. There are 19 officials against the 21 sanctioned posts in the Board.

The official said: “We did send a proposal to the government in 2014 to bring our office system under NIC server. However, response from the government is not forthcoming even today.”

The Assam Board of Revenue was constituted based on the Assam Board of Revenue Act, 1962 amended in 2017.