Nitish Kumar highlights problem of land disputes in Bihar

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday identified land disputes as one of the major challenges in fulfilling the commitment to establishing rule of law in the state. 

At a function here, where he inaugurated facilities like an online mutation of property and payment of rent besides suo motu mutation by linking registration offices with the circle offices concerned, the Chief Minister highlighted the need for measures that minimized such disputes. 

"It is often seen that a property divided among the younger generation continues to be registered in the name of ancestors. This has been mainly because of the difficulties in mutation process and the facilities launched today would go a long way in solving these. These would also help in minimizing land disputes", Kumar said. 

"It is also seen that people desist from getting properties registered because of the high registration fee. This needs to change. Only a nominal amount should be charged. We should also make arrangements for getting scanned copies of old land records so that these could be preserved for future use", the Chief Minister said. 

He also directed officials to accord top priority to resolution of land disputes and gave instructions for holding regular meetings to this end at various levels. 

"People have an immense sense of possession when it comes to land. Disputes relating to this often leads to unfortunate incidents. With innovations, we can solve this problem. The state, which has been registering a double-digit growth rate for some time, would prosper even faster if we could eradicate land disputes", Kumar added. 

The function was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, Minister for Land Reforms Ram Narayan Mandal and Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar, among others.

(With inputs from agencies.)