The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government tabled a Bill in the Kerala Assembly on Monday to regularise undisputed and lawfully held excess private land in the possession of individuals, firms, companies, and body corporates in the State by granting them a certificate of ownership.
Revenue Minister K. Rajan termed the Kerala Excess Land in Private Holding (Regularisation) Bill “revolutionary.”
He said the government had initiated a comprehensive digital survey of revenue land parcels in Kerala in 2023. The survey has so far covered one-third of the revenue land in the State, an estimated 9 lakh hectares, and 70,000 “land parcels”.
He stated that the digital valuation revealed excess land in the possession of hundreds of individual owners.
“For instance, the survey revealed that an individual owning 10 cents of land as per the title deed might actually possess an excess of two cents of land. The person cannot sell the plot because they do not have title or possession of the excess land identified by the digital survey. The Bill establishes a legal framework to enable the government to grant the individual legal ownership of the excess two cents of land revealed in the survey”, he said.
Simplification
Mr. Rajan said the Bill aimed to simplify land ownership and avoid unnecessary litigation, and free citizens and entities from red tape by opening the door for them to apply for ownership of excess land they possessed.
However, Mr. Rajan said, the Bill does not grant regularisation and settlement if the digital survey reveals that government land is in the possession of individuals and private entities. Moreover, the proposed law would not grant regularisation if it entails any reduction of government land adjacent to their holdings.
He said the proposed law envisages a precise and uniform process for legitimising and transferring excess land in the lawful possession of private persons. And entities to the owners. He said the Bill was compliant with the historic Kerala Land Reforms Act.
Mr. Rajan said the Bill would rectify the anomalies that cropped up during chain surveys in yesteryears. “Since 1965, no State government has introduced a contemporary Bill for land settlement and regularisation. The Bill would benefit thousands of small land owners in the State”.
The UDF’s disruption of the House had precluded a debate on the Bill. The treasury Benches passed the Bill through a voice vote, and Speaker A. N. Shamseer referred it to the Subject Committee-II of the Kerala Legislative Assembly for consideration.
Published – October 06, 2025 01:14 pm IST
