Tamil Nadu Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management, K.A. Sengottaiyan, on Monday, said in the Assembly during Demand for Grants that his department will implement a new practice of appointing officials in a three-tier system to speed up the process of providing certificates and that it is the long-term vision of the State government to provide all necessary certificates within a stipulated timeframe.

Making a slew of announcements, Mr Sengottaiyan said, “As a start, 12 sub taluk offices would be set up at a cost of ₹1.02 crore under a Deputy Tahsildar to dispatch essential certificates for the public in the place where they are dwelling. 12,466 village administrative officials and 1,253 taluk revenue inspectors will be provided with tablets at a cost of ₹688.63 crore to provide services of the Revenue and Disaster Management department.”

He added, “The department will also ensure that more than 20 lakh poor eligible families, who have built their house in empty village “natham” lands, will be given pattas. And the errors that have creeped in during the process of computerisation of land records will be corrected.”

A Special Job Security Act will also be enacted to protect the officials of the Revenue and Disaster Management when discharging their duties.

“Sections 37 A and 37 B of the Tamil Nadu Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling on Land) ACT, 1961, will be simplified. An Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System – MHEWS -RTDAS (Real Time Data Acquisition System) will be implemented at a cost of ₹80 crore. The guidelines for land acquisition to build highways will be simplified. A detailed project report for flood mitigation efforts in Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Thoothukudi, and Kanniyakumari will be created at a cost of ₹3.90 crore,” he announced.