Patna: The Bihar government has instructed district administrations across the state to ensure the disposal of nearly 3.1 lakh pending land mutation applications within 15 days, officials said.
The directive was issued by revenue and land reforms department secretary Jai Singh following instructions from revenue and land reforms minister Dilip Kumar Jaiswal.
Delay linked to staff leave
According to the department, a large number of applications remained pending at the defect-check and scrutiny stages due to collective leave taken by revenue employees and circle officers in recent weeks.
Officials said the move was aimed at improving delivery of citizen services under the state government’s “Saat Nischay Part-3” programme focused on ease of living initiatives.
Officials told to avoid unnecessary rejection
The department has instructed revenue staff to adopt a “positive approach” during scrutiny of applications and avoid returning cases over minor or technical deficiencies.
Minister Dilip Kumar Jaiswal said applicants should not face unnecessary difficulties because of small procedural errors. He added that simplifying and making the mutation process more transparent and accountable remained a government priority.
The department warned that negligence at any level would not be tolerated.
New verification mechanism introduced
Under a new provision introduced by the department, any application marked as “defected” by a revenue employee will now require mandatory verification by the concerned circle officer.
If the reported defect is found to be unjustified, the application will not be returned directly to the applicant. Instead, it will be sent back to the concerned employee for acceptance and further processing.
Districts asked to monitor progress daily
Secretary Jai Singh has directed district magistrates to launch special drives for the disposal of pending cases and ensure daily monitoring of progress.
Officials said all districts had been asked to treat the exercise as a priority to reduce backlog and improve public service delivery.,
