Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Land Use Board announced that a ‘kraya certificate’ could be issued for land which has no previous sale deeds or land records. A kraya certificate is a proof of ownership of property, issued by the government to a person who has been assigned land.

The 'kraya certificate' could be issued to the land which came into possession of the present occupants based on the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963, said the Land Board Secretary in reply to a clarification sought by the Mananthavady Land Tribunal.

Instead of old sale deeds or land records, a report from the reporting officer or the findings of a local inquiry would be sufficient to grant the title deed, the Land Board Secretary added.

According to the Land Board Secretary, land tribunals have powers to issue title deeds to people who are presently in possession of the land where the terms of the feudal landlord-tenant agreements were in force before April 1, 1964.

Title deeds could be granted to land under tenancy even if it is used for any agricultural purpose. It could be a plantation, paddy field or farm needing irrigation. A tenant’s land for which tax was not paid also could be issued a title deed, the Land Board informed.

A tenant could apply for a title deed of the entire land in his possession or a part of it with the land tribunal and the latter could grant the document based solely on the report of the village officer.

The Land Board Secretary explained that as per the law, the tenant or the current occupant of the land was purchasing the property of the landlord through the land tribunal. It was not necessary to buy all the land together, the Secretary added.

Other decisions
In another order, the government decided to temporarily constitute a land assignment unit for one year to cancel ‘Raveendran pattayams’ and grant fresh title deeds in eligible cases.

The teachers under the General Education Department who were appointed as KITE master trainers under the working arrangement will be allowed to continue in their posts till May 31, 2024. The vacancies created consequently in schools could be filled by posting guest teachers on daily wages if sufficient protected teachers were not available, said yet another order. The amount for paying the wages should be allotted by KITE. A government order issued on July 28, 2023, in this regard would be amended.

Meanwhile, the state Cabinet decided to wind up the functioning of the Kollam unit of special tahsildar (LA) which was set up to acquire land for the Edamon-Kochi 400 KV transmission line. The 11 employees working in this unit will be redeployed.

The Cabinet also approved the revised quote of 20.48 per cent over the estimate for constructing a foot over-bridge at the starting point of the Nehru Trophy boat race in Alappuzha. The project comes under the Alappuzha municipality’s Amrut Project. Half of the additional amount should be funded by the municipality and the other half met from the allotment for the state under the Amrut Project.