T.N. government issues guidelines to ensure safety of land records

The Tamil Nadu government has issued a set of guidelines to ensure the safety of land records and management of files. In a circular sent to District Collectors, the Commissioner of Land Administration has given details of the procedure to be followed for maintenance of record rooms and preservation/destruction of files.

The move follows an order of the Tamil Nadu Information Commission which expressed serious concern over the disappearance of files from revenue records and recommended disciplinary action against the officials responsible.

Calling for implementing strong safeguards to protect files, the State Information Commissioner R. Priyakumar, while rejecting the stand of Public Information Officer and the First Appellate Authority in a case where land records requested by a petitioner under the Right to Information Act, 2005, were found missing, said the response of the authorities in claiming that certain documents were not found on records only showcased their “nonchalant” and “careless” conduct.

Acting on the Commission’s directions to devise a strategy for proper maintenance of files, the CLA issued the Standard Operating Procedure to the District Collectors to protect land-related records, especially pattas. The officials were told to keep the record rooms clean and prevent accumulation of dust. Air-conditioning system would help in better upkeep of the files. Steps should be taken to segregate ‘secret’ files from the regular ones and maintain them separately.

Record rooms should ideally be located in the ground floor of buildings with strict access control, the Collectors were told. Apart from fumigation processes, it was advised to take measures to control the entry of rats. Where a document was found missing or lost, the officials concerned should take steps to reconstruct the files.

Disciplinary action should be taken against those responsible for the dereliction of duty as recommended by the TNIC. Officials moving out on transfer or retirement should hand over the file register to the next officials after making entries on record. Fire prevention and detection mechanism to protect the documents was also emphasised.