Speed up pace of registry: Chief Minister

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday directed officials to simplify as well as to accelerate the process of land and house registry.

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Baghel demanded that people should not be made to wait for days to get their registry done. Instead, arrangements should be made to complete the process within an hour.

He called for seating arrangements, shade and drinking water facilities in all registry offices.

The Chief Minister said the 2% concession on registry fee on residential houses should continue.

Baghel was reviewing the works of the Commercial Tax (Registry) and Revenue and Calamity Management Department at a meeting at his residence cum office.

The meeting was attended by Revenue and Calamity Management Minister Jaisingh Agrawal, Urban Administration Minister Dr Shivkumar Daharia, Chief Secretary R.P. Mandal, Additional Chief Secretary to Chief Minister Subrat Sahu, Secretary Revenue Reeta Shandily, Secretary Registry Commercial Tax P. Sangeetha, Inspector General Stamp and Registry Dharmesh Sahu, Director Land Record Ramesh Sharma and Deputy Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, Saumya Chaurasiya.

The Chief Minister told officials of Registry Department to actively resolve the problems arising in the process of registry. No seller or buyer should face any inconvenience at Registry Offices, he said.

Revenue Minister Jaisingh Agrawal said last year the department collected revenue worth Rs 1,640 crore, against the targeted Rs 1,550 crore — 5% more than the given target.

The Minister said the lockdown arising from coronavirus infection had affected registry work, causing a loss of nearly Rs 155 crore.

In a power point presentation, Secretary P Sangeetha informed that as the ban on registry of small plots was lifted, nearly 219,758 documents were registered in March, the ending month of the last financial year, despite the lockdown due to Covid-19. This is 9.19% more than the previous fiscal year.

Works related to concession provided on stamp duty for setting up industry, transfer of immovable assets to women and implementation of Public Service Guarantee Act were also reviewed at the meeting.

Sangheetha detailed the proposed action plan to install a software developed under NGDRS Scheme for pre-registration, online screening of documents and online payment.