Revenue Minister K. Rajan has announced that the government will simplify procedures related to land conversion without compromising the core objectives of the Paddy and Wetland Conservation Act. He was addressing mediapersons here on Friday.
“We will make the process as simple as possible, even if it requires amending existing rules. At the same time, the spirit of the Paddy and Wetland Act will not be diluted under any circumstances,” Mr. Rajan said.
The Minister declared that all land conversion applications for below 25 cents pending across the State would be settled before December 31. “Since a huge number of applications are piling up, we are working out a standard operating procedure to resolve them quickly. RDOs will conduct monthly adalats by convening village officers to address the applications. Village-level adalats will be held for re-submitted applications,” he added.
Mr. Rajan made it clear that agents would be completely excluded from the process. “Applications routed through agents will not get priority. Officials who fail to keep agents out will face strict action,” he said.
He said the Revenue department was preparing a special action plan to tackle fraudulent practices by agents.
On illegal land reclamation, the Minister said the government would enforce strict measures. To prevent misuse, a revolving fund of ₹1.5 crore had already been distributed to Collectors in seven districts.
“If the landowner refuses to remove soil from illegally reclaimed fields, the government will do it at its own expense and recover the cost through revenue recovery,” the Minister said.
Earlier, the Minister inaugurated the State-level land conversion adalats at the District Sports Council Indoor Stadium here.
As part of the adalat’s opening session, 3,073 land conversion applications were resolved on Friday. District-level adalats will now be held from October 3 to November 15 to process Form-6 applications eligible for free conversion up to 25 cents.
Looking ahead, the Minister said a Vision 2031 seminar would be held in Thrissur on October 25 to gather public and expert opinion on the future functioning of the Revenue department.
The event was presided over by Revenue Secretary M.G. Rajamanickam. MLA P. Balachandran, District Collector Arjun Pandian, Land Revenue Joint Commissioner K. Meera, and other senior officials attended.
Published – October 03, 2025 07:22 pm IST
