Work Study Report on Kerala Village Offices by James Joseph Adhikaram, Retd. Deputy Collector, Kotta

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GOVERNMENT OF KERALA PERSONNEL & ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS DEPARTMENT

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Work Study Report on Village offices under Land Revenue Department

PERSONNEL & ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS (AR-5) DEPARTMENT

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Government of Kerala •

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Personnel & Administrative Reforms Department To,

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The Secretary to Government Department of Revenue Government Secretariat Thiruvananthapuram Sir, Sub: - Report on the Organisational setup and Functioning of the Village Offices under Land Revenue Department in Kerala

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As desired in the Project Directive, the team carried out a

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work study on the Organizational set up and Functioning of the Village

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Offices under Land Revenue Department in Kerala with a view to

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streamline the procedures followed in the village offices so as to

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reduce the work burden and to put forward suggestions to transform the village offices into model government offices.

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We are glad to submit fair copies of our report.

Yours faithfully

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G. mprakash Joint Secretary to Govt.

Copy to:• •The Principal Secretary, Revenu3amenti 2? The Commissioner, Lftb7thiuiháuáiWT' 3. The Library, P&ARD, Secretariat

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PROJECT DIRECTIVE PREFACE Village Offices being the grass root level entity of the State Revenue administration, are responsible for protection of Government land, collection of various type of taxes, issuance of various certificates for the public, matters related to General Administration and so on. As the population in the state has increased, the number of people visiting village offices for different needs has also increased. But there is no corresponding growth in the staff strength of village' offices. The present staff pattern was fixed almost 3 decades ago. Work burden in village offices has been doubled over the period. The situation is such that the public becomes frustrated and the staff becomes helpless. Moreover, even basic facilities required for an office are not provided in majority of village offices. It was against this backdrop, Administrative Reforms Team5 of P&AR Department has been invited to look into and suggest remedial measures.

COMPOSITION OF THE TEAM Shri. Jayankumar S. K. (Section Officer).

Shri. Rakesh S. P. (Assistant) Shri. Shaji A (Assistant) Shri. Omanakuttan. B (Assistant) Shri. Renjith. R (Assistant) GUIDES

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Shri. G. Ramprakash, Joint Secretary Shri. Johnson. K. James, Under Secretary Shri. K.Johny, Under Secretary Shri. M. Mohamed Salim. Former Section Officer

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

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The Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms is extremely thankful to the Land Revenue Department for assigning this important and prestigious study. In this context we wish to thank the Commissioner of Land Revenue, other officers and staff of the Land Revenue Department for

their

whole-hearted

co-operat!on

and

assistance.

The

acknowledgement would remain incomplete without thanking the Village Officers and other Village staff who have helped

in facilitating data

collection and providing information at all stages and ensured a successful completion of the study. This report is an outcome of tireless effort made by the staff of P&AR (AR-5) Department. I wish to specially thank the team.

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We are extremely confident that this report would go a long way in helping the authorities concerned in their effort of making Village Offices in the state people -friendly and model offices.

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Or. Nivedida P. Haran Principal Secretary and ACS to Government

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 2 3 4

5 6

B 9 10

Subject Executive Summary Introduction Genesis of the Present Study Methodology Organisational Setup & Analysis A Report on Office Inspection & Infrastructure_Facilities Records Management in Village Offices-An Overview Computerisation of Village Offices Recommendations Expenditure & Benefit Analysis

Annexure

Page No. 8 - 10 11 - 15 16 - 17 18- 19 20 - 84 85— 104 105— 114 115-123 124- 133 134 - 139 140-144

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All Village Offices in Kerala should be result-based and focused units under Land Revenue Department that are capable of rapidly responding to the needs of the public and quick in helping government in General Administration.

MISSION To fairly and effectively collect tax revenues and recoveries to issue various certfIcates, flawless protection of government lands and records, dedicated service in ensuring law and order and preventing illegal activities such as unauthorized sand mining and land filling.

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Chapter- 1

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Executive summary 1.1.1. The report in the ensuing chapters has been prepared in response to the request of the Revenue Department to restructure the staff pattern in Village Offices in accordance with the heavy workload being experienced there and to suggest measures to streamline the works and to improve the working environment in village offices. It is to be stated at the outset that the workload in village offices has increased by leaps and bounds proportionately to the increase in population and land ownership.

Meanwhile, it is a curious fact to note that the Village offices in our state are still functioning with the staff pattern which was implemented almost 3 decades ago. Therefore, it becomes imperative to adopt some measures to alleviate the difficulties experienced by the staff and general public.

1.1.2. For data collection, the team visited a few sample village offices in all 63 taluks. Since the Land Revenue Department is one of the largest Departments in the state with 1634 village offices having 7500 employees it required a minimum period of one year for conducting a comprehensive work study covering all aspects. Besides, the measurement of work load requires special care and precision due to the fact that the works in village offices have an oscillating nature with occasional rise and fall that too depend on a lot of other factors such as, the number of population, common occupation of villagers, area of the village offices.etc. Moreover, the problems being experienced in village offices are not common in

10 nature. It varies from Taluks to Taluks and Districts to Districts. Therefore, many sophisticated work study techniques were employed to analyze the workload in village offices.

1.1.3. The result of data thus analyzed shows that majority of village offices in the State can function with the existing staff strength if a streamlining of methods and procedures are adopted. The physical inspection of village offices gives a grim picture of working environment prevalent in village offices. The report puts forward a few suggestions to enhance the basic amenities that will surely increase the efficiency and efficacy of village staff. Recommendations include: C.

Bifurcation of wide villages Front Offices for thickly populated villages

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Computerization of Land Tax

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Introduction of Torrens system Modern Records Keeping facilities

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1.1.4. Village Offices are the base level offices of Revenue Department. A

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solution to the problems being faced in village offices is certainly not a panacea to all the problems that are confronted by the Revenue

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Department from head to toe. A complete and comprehensive study of the Revenue Department is necessary to look into the serious issues that are -

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crippling the Department over the years.

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Chapter- 2

Introduction F No man but feels more of a man in the world if he has a bit

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ground that he can call his own. However smallit is on the it is four thousand miles deep; and that is a very h "----Charles Dudley Warner 2.1.1. The above quotation clearly portrays man's inextricable bond with land.

Since the Land Revenue Department deals with the variegated issues of man and land, it attains a prominent position among other departments in the state. People of all walks of life depend on the services of the department on various matters. It is not an exaggeration to say that no one can die without visiting a village office once. The village offices being the grass root level entity of the Revenue Department, extend service to one and all in every nook and corner of the state.

2.1.2. The Revenue Department is one of the oldest departments of State Government.

It is a fact that the history of mankind is intimately

associated with

land relationship. As such, Revenue Administration

centered on collection of taxes/land revenue, which was the main source of revenue for rulers in the pre-British period. The village was the basic unit of administration and has remained so throughout the centuries.

Evolution of Revenue Administration in the Country: 2.2.1. The history of Land Administration dates back to the olden days of kings.

Right from the time of Manu, land revenue had been a major source of income for rulers. During the Maurya and Gupta periods, land revenue

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was collected by paid officials, which resembles the present day revenue administration system. Later, in the place of the revenue collectors, the Jagirdars, Subedars and lnamdars came and they functioned as

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intermediaries passing the revenue to the kings during Mughal

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administration.

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2.2.2. The system of revenue administration was started by Sulthan Sher Shah

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Sun (1540-45),and it continued during the reign of the Mughal Emperor

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Akbar (1556-1605). Raja Todar Mal - the greatest revenue expert who started his career under Sher Shah Sun and joined in the service of Akbar, is remembered even today for evolving a system of revenue assessment

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and survey, a system which drew a balance between the demands of the

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State and needs of the subjects. The Revenue Administration during the regime of Mughals consisted of a heterogeneous class of persons, which included direct officials of the imperial administration, and representatives

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of the peasants.

2.2:3. With the advent of the British rule in India, the political and economic scenario underwent far reaching changes. The British superimposed a system in tune with British customs and laws relating to land. During the British times, the Revenue Department was the pivot of administration. The Collector was the virtual monarch at the district, around whom the entire administration revolved.

2.2.4. After Independence, by and large, the same institutional structure has been retained with a few changes for better delivery of service. In more

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recent decades, focus has been less on Land Reforms and more on Land Development and Administration such as Drought - Prone Area

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Programme, Desert Development Programme and Watershed Development Programme etc.

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History of Revenue Administration in Kerala

S 2.3.1 .The land Revenue Department was in existence even before India became independent. Revenue Department was in existence in the erstwhile Princely states of Travancore, .Cochin, and also the Malabar region which was part of the Madras Provinces. The Revenue administration got special

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attention during the reign of Marthanda Varma.

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Neettezhuthu Pillai (Secretary), Melezhuthu Pillai (Head Accountant),

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Rayasam PilIai (Head Clerk) and several Rayasams and Kanakku Pillais

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(Clerks and Accountant). During the first revenue settlement each division

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or district in the state was divided into taluks called Mandapathuvatukkals which was further subdivided into Kelvis or villages. The

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Mandapathuvathukkal was under a Karyakkar and the kelvi under the parvathkar. Cal. Munro was the British Resident who gave a firm footing to the Department. He codified the rules and regulations and published them in book form in the year 1811. He rechristened the name Karyakar and Parvathikar into the present day Tahsildar and the village officer respectively.

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INTEGRATION 2.4.1. The Village Establishment and the Revenue Establishment were two distinctive services in the Revenue Department. Separate set of Rules governing the services of Village staff and Revenue staff were in existence. In the year 1984, the Village and Revenue services were integrated and a common Revenue service was formed. Lower Division Clerks and Village Assistants were integrated into one common unit and Upper Division Clerks and the Village Officers were integrated as another

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common unit. Unified Rules governing the services of various other categories were also framed.

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2.4.2. Although Revenue Department deals with issues related to land, maintenance of documents, protection of public land, collection of land revenue etc today the Department has to carry out a number of responsibilities. Right from the village offices to the District Collectorates,

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the Revenue Department is dealing with nearly 150 subjects concerning common man such as issuance of various certificates, maintenance of land records, collection of land revenue tax and cess, effecting revenue recovery, settling land survey disputes, land reforms, conduct of election process, handling of law and order situation, calamity relief and rehabilitation, disaster management and so on. In short the department is

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directly or indirectly involved in all situations . of the day-to-day

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various departments and developmental programmes of the State.

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administration of the State. At the district level it coordinates activities of

2.4.3. With the growth of the state, the duties and responsibilities of the Revenue Department increased a lot. But the department remained stationery for more than four decades without remarkable changes in its basic structure.

Several Commissions which had gone into restructuring of the department produced only compendiums of recommendations which were scarcely

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acted upon. The last such report was that of the Radhakrishna Pillai

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envisaged a qualitative change in the internal functioning of the

Commission and it contained some substance for action. The report

department to meet the present day needs.

2.4.4. As per G.O (MS) No.331/98/RD dated 20/6/1998 the Board of Revenue was abolished and the department was re-named Land Revenue

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Department. Based on the study report of P.R Radha Krishna PiIlai Commission, Government issued G.O(MS) No.510/98/RD dated 14/10/1998 which paved the way to the re-organisation of the department.

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15 As part of the re-organisation, a few idle offices including Farka Village Offices were abolished. The poet of Head clerk was renamed as Village Officer and given full charge of village offices. Except this, there occurred hardly any change in the basic structure of the village offices.

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Genesis of the Present Study 3.1.1. There had been tremendous increase in the workload of Village Offices in the state during the last 30 years

The workload in village offices has

increased proportionately to the

increase

in

population

and

land

ownership. Moreover, being the grass root level unit of General administration, the village offices haĂźe also been entrusted to dispense duties related to that department. However, no work study on the work load of village offices and reviewing of the staff pattern had been carried out during the last 3 decades.

3.1.2. At present there are 1634 village offices including 63 Kasaba village offices and group villages. The existing staff pattern of village offices is detailed below:

Village Officer

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Special Village OfficerNillage Assistant

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Village Field Assistant.

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TOTAL

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Posts

3.1.3. Against this backdrop, the Commissioner, Land Revenue Department vide his letter No. L.R.E8-51530/06 dated

06/07/2010

requested the

Government to conduct a work study so as to estimate the workload of all village offices in the state and to determine the feasibility of sanctioning additional post of a clerk. Consequentiy, the Revenue Department requested P & ARD to conduct a work study to ascertain the feasibility of granting additional post of clerk in village offices. The file was forwarded to this department through the Minister concerned, with specific orders to

17 conduct a detailed work study. The work study team viz. P&AR (AR-5) was assigned with the task of conducting the study and hence the report in the ensuing chapters.

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Chapter- 4 Methodology 4.1.1. The work study team headed by Sri. P.S. Gopakumar, Additional Secretary, Shri. M.Shahul Hameed, Deputy Secretary, Shri.Joykutty.M,

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Under Secretary to Government Personnel &Administrative Reforms Department held a preliminary discussion with the Commissioner of Land Revenue and other senior officers of the Land Revenue Department. The

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discussion helped the team members to identify the area and scope of the proposed work study. Details with regarding various offices and present activities were also. collected for furthering the study. Extensive discussions were also held with the functionaries at different levels.

4.1.2. Suitable forms were designed for collection of job details. The team conducted pilot study in two village offices, Viz., Ayyanthol and

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Kumarakom. The annual workload of functionaries, both clerical and supervisory, were obtained for a period of one year. The base year for

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collecting data on workload related matters is fixed as calendar year 2010. Though the main objective of the study was to assess the workload of village offices, an inspection on working environment prevailing in the

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offices was also carried out. Method Study was also conducted to identify redundant items of work present if any and to streamline and improve procedures and system wherever possible in the administrative machinery of the establishment.

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4.1.3. For the measurement of workload of various functionaries, the team utilized both primary and secondary data sources. For the collection of primary data, the team relied on conventional work study tools such as Self-logging, Analytical estimation, Case study, Discussions, Observation techniques, Interviews etc. Various periodical reports and the entries found in the registers maintained in the village offices were taken as secondary data. Standard Timings for carrying out various item of work by the functionaries were arrived at by computing the time taken through Activity Lists, Log Sheets and Direct Observation. In certain areas such as works related to Establishment mailers, accounts etc., the use of Synthetic Data had also been made: General norms applicable for various

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items of work also had been applied. Personal and Fatigue allowance

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15% was added to the total time for the original and routine items of work.

The time taken for field works such as inspection of offices, sights and meeting of clients etc, and the time spent for non-file works such as attending to discussions, meetings, conferences, visitors, and telephone, official tours etc. also had been taken in to consideration for making the time study accurate.

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Chapter- 5 ORGANISATIONAL SETUP AND ANALYSIS Organization Structure of Land Revenue Department

An organization that is strong and stable and is ready to commit time, money, and patience will be more apt to reap rewards: - Richard miller

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Commissionci (Land Peveauc) and Stale thnd 8oard

Secretory Land Board

Addttlonoi Cc,nmlsstcnel [

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Assistant Secretory District Copectors

Assistant Commissioners

TWO Land aoord Pevenue DlvtsionoiOfficer

ApraIIoie Authority (In)

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Ooptitv C0412ctO,s

Land Tribunals '7

latuldor

Additional tonSdar

Special tohstdars

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I Vilinge Officers

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5.1.1. Revenue Department is, so to say, the mother of all Administrative Departments. This is the department which touches upon almost all aspects of a Citizen's life. It is all pervasive. Its contribution to the orderly social development is immense. The Revenue Department is tne custodian of all lands and it is concerned with all land disposals. The work relating to land assignment, land acquisition, alienation of land, updating and maintenance of Land Revenue Records, grant of Pattas, Land Reforms, Land Ceiling, Levy and collection of Urban Land Tax are looked after by the Revenue Department.

5.1.2. Revenue department is the first to rush to the people during the times of Natural Calamities like Tsunami, drought and flood. The Department shifts the affected people to places of safety and it provides food, clothes, shelter and also distributes essential commodities and financial assistance in the form of cash. It may be said that in every walk of the common man's need, the participation of Revenue Department cannot be under estimated. In order to serve the people in a better way, this department has a well established hierarchy.

5.1.3. The Department is under the control. of the Minister for Revenue. The Secretariat is headed by the Revenue. Secretary who is assisted by Additional Secretaries / Joint Secretaries / Deputy Secretaries. The Revenue Department is headed by Land Revenue Commissioner who is assisted by Additional Commissioner / Assistant Commissioners. The State of Kerala consists of 14 districts, 21 revenue divisions, 63 taluks and 1634 villages including Group Villages and Kasaba villages. Each district is headed by a District Collector who is assisted by Deputy Collectors among others. The revenue divisions are headed by Revenue Divisional Officers and are assisted by Senior Superintendents among others. Every taluk is headed by a Tahsildar who is assisted by Additional Tahsildars /

23 Deputy Tahsildars among others. The villages are •headed by Village Officers who are assisted by Special Village Officers I Village Field Assistants.

An Introduction to Village Office Organization Structure of a Village Office (Existing)

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Legend: V.0 S.V.O V.F.A V.M

Village Officer

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Special Village Officer Village Field Assistant Village Man

5.2.1. Village Offices have close relationship with the public. It is the root level • office of the Land Revenue Department. It is through these offices government execute general administration across the state. A Village

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Office is an important office at the lowest level where people come for

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paying various taxes, for getting certificates of various needs, for availing

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benefits from Government sponsored projects/plans ...etc. All works in

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village offices need special attention and proper enquiry.

Village Officer

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5.3.1. Village Officer is the head of a village who works on behalf of the government. .A Village Officer belongs to the cadre of Head Clerk and he is assisted by a Special Village OfficerNillage Assistants and Village Field Assistants. A Village Officer, being the head of revenue administration in the village has to do the routine work of a village officer and at the same time has to attend to the additional responsibilities assigned to him from time to time. As the representative of the government, a village officer has a responsibility to protect the interest of government in his dealings and to provide necessary help to the officers of other departments as and when such help is required. The Village Officer is responsible for the conservation of government land in his jurisdiction, collection of taxes, and maintenance of revenue records etc. It is through Village Offices that the

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Tahsildar carry out activities connected with natural calamities, distribution of relief, disaster management etc. He is responsible for dispensing services from the government direct to the people. Moreover, a Village Officer is an important officer at the field unit of Revenue administration and is approached by people for various services from Government A Village Officer is responsible for taking important decision on many urgent subjects and also responsible for enforcing the decisions of government and his superior officers. He is also responsible for exeduting welfare activities and informing the Tahsildar concerned on the occurrence of disasters like natural calamity, diseases, law and order problems.. etc.

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5.3.2.

Duties and Responsibilities of Village Officer • Collection of Basic tax, Plantation tax, Building tax etc, • Effecting Revenue Recovery • Maintenance and updating of land records • Works related to general election • Works related to assignment of Go vernment land to various categories • Works related to acquisition of land for public purpose.

• Conservation of Government lands and trees.

• Works related to Transfer of Registry • Issuance of various type of Certificates • Implementation of calamity relief operations and disbursement of funds to eligible persons.

• Disbursement of Chief Ministers Distress Relief Fund to the needy.

• Issuance of arms licence, explosive licence, etc.

• Works related to implementation of MPLADS and various other developmental schemes • Redress of public grievances • Works related to management and control of natural resources, regulation of sand mining ... etc • Works related to conduct of census operations • Wor¼s related to transfer of government lands between departments.

• Works related to security proceedings under Criminal Procedure code • Works related to maintain Law and Order • Removal of public Nuisance.

• Works related to lease of Government land • Works related to survey and demarcation of land • Works related to issuing death compensation to the legal heirs of NRIs

26 . Works related to sanctioning of burning and burial grounds Supply of drinking water . Works related to fixing of fair value of land . Works in connection with applications under RIA Convening of Village level Janakeeya Samithy . Works related to Conservation of Paddy land and Wet land Act . Works related to security proceedings under Criminal Procedure code . Works related to survey and demarcation of land • Keep confiscated articles under safe custody • Proper maintenance and updating of registers, accounts and records.

• Sending reports, statements and periodicals to higher officials in time • Preparation of Annual Land Revenue accounts for Jamabandhy inspection • Preparation and sending of reports to Tahsildar.on applications received for various govt loan schemes

Special Village OfficerNillage Assistant 5.3.3. There is one Special Village Officer and a Village Assistant in each village office. In some offices there are two Village Assistants only and no Special Village officer. The Special Village Officer belongs to the cadre of U.D Clerk and the Village assistant to the cadre of L.D Clerk. The Special Village OfficerNillage Assistant assist the Village Officer in discharging duties. Whenever the Village officer on leave the Special Village Officer or the senior most Village Assistant acts on behalf of the village officer.

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Duties of Special Village OfficerNillage Assistant >

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Tax collection Preparation of monthly DCB Statement and Annual Revenue

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Accounts Administration of village offices in the absence of village officer

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Proper maintenance and updating of records and other registers Prepare Land Revenue Registers and Accounts accurately Prepare reports and periodicals to higher officers

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Survey of Puramboke land and prepare sketch and A form

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statements

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Inspect the Boundary stones of Puramboke land and rectify the fault if any.

Prepare Mahasar and records in respect of cases of land assignment, land conservation, transfer of registry, land acquisition etc.

Help the Village Officer in his clerical works

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Help the land owners to find the correct location and boundary of

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their property

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Execute all the jobs assigned by the Village Officer

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on the orders of Tahsildar

Village Field Assistant 5.5.1. Village Field Assistants assist the Village Officer and Special Village OfficerNillage Assistant in discharging their duties. The Village Man belong to the cadre of Last Grade Servant.

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Duties of Village Field Assistant Carrying out of all works entrusted by the Village Officer Helping of village staff in Tax collection Payment of collected amount in Treasury Despatch of tellers and other documents Helping of village staff in Recovery cases Execution of demand notices and other notices upon defaulters

5.5.3. By the analysation of the Revenue Department: it is found that the • organization structure is complimentary to the growth and progress of the Department. Delegation of power and hierarchical pattern are conveniently maintained in the department. The pyramid like structural pattern is found helpful for the effective discharge of duties and services to the satisfaction of the general public.

5.5.4. Even if the village offices are struggling hard to cope with the ever increasing workload with existing insufficient staff strength, the department find itself maintaining the needs of the common man. Since Revenue Administration touches one and all in the state, the success or failure of this administration mar or better the image of the government. Therefore certain measures need to be taken for upholding the goodwill of the department.

Kasaba villages 5.6.1. Kasaba Village Offices are those village offices functioning in the Taluk Head Quarters. There are 63 Kasaba Villages in the state. At present.

Kasaba Village Offices already have more staff than common villages. So that Kasaba Villages are not included in the purview of the work study.

29 Major Services available from Village Offices Issue of various types of certificates

I Possession Certificate:

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5.7.1. Application duly written in the prescribed form with a court fee stamp worth rupees five affixed in it should be submitted to the Village Officer, along with the proof of documents of ownership, possession, land tax receipt etc. The Certificate will be issued within one week from the date of receipt of the application as per GO (MS) No.300/96/RD dated.12.6.1996.

Certificates for special purposes are to be produced before the Central Government Offices are issued by the Tahsildar. The Village Officer is empowered to issue possession certificate as per GO (MS)No. 1 09/92/RD dated.1O.2.1992. Separate certificate will be issued for each purpose as per GO (MS)No.136107/RD dated.27.4.2007.

I Location Certificate:

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5.7.2. Application duly filled in the white paper/ form prescribed with a court fee stamp worth rupees five affixed in it should be submitted to the Village Officer. The document of ownership, land tax receipts

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etc. have to be prod uced along with the application. The prescribed fee should be remitted for the sketch plan issued by the Village Officers under the instructions stipulated in the No. LRD1-36319/07

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dated.20.06.2007 of the Additional Commissioner, Land Revenue, Thiruvananthapuram. The Certificate will be issued after due enquiry and site verification. The Village Officer is empowered to

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issue location Certificate as per GO (MS)No.136/07/RD dated.27.4.2007. Separate certificate will be issued for each purpose as per the above Government order.

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Caste Certificate (Other than SCIST):

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5.7.3. The Village Officer is empowered to issue Caste Certificate as per GO

(MS)

1039/79/RD

(MS)No.882/82/RD

dated

dated

06.08.1979

20.08.1982.

All

and

GO

caste/community

certificates except SC/ST certificates are being issued by the Village Officer. Application duly filled in the prescribed form with a court fee stamp worth rupees five affixed in it should be submitted

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to the Village Officer along with school registration particulars, the caste related documents of the parents of the applicant, ration card and other supporting records to prove the Caste/ religion of the applicant. The Certificate will be issued within 3 days as per Circular

No.242981T4/2002/RD

dated.23.5.2002

of

the

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Government. The Village Officer is empowered to issue Conversion

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Certificates,

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as per circular NO.18421/E2/87/SCSTDD

dated

15.12.1987. In case where the certificates could not be issued; the reason will be intimated to the applicant within 10 days.

Income Certificate:

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5.7.4. The Village Officer is empowered to issue income certificates as per

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GO (MS) 1039/79/RD dated 06.08.1979 and as per GO (MS) No.

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567/91/RD dated.12.9.1991. The income certificate issued by the Village Officer is sufficient to produce before all state Government authorities within Kerala. Application duly filled in the prescribed form with a court fee stamp worth rupees five affixed in it should be submitted to the Village Officer, along with the documents of proof required i.e. of property, salary certificate, ration card income tax return etc. SC/ST communities are exempted from paying the fee

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of five rupee court fee stamp. The Certificate will be issued by the

31 Village Officer after making due enquiry regarding his income. The Certificate will be issued within one week as per GO (MS) No.300/96/RD dated.12.6.2000. The validity period of this certificate of persons having income up to Rs.36000/- has been enhanced to 1 year as per GO (MS)No.136/07/RD dated.27.4.2007. Certificate of persons having income above Rs.36000/- has only six months validity period as existed earlier.

Solvency Certificate: 5.7.5. Application in the white paper with a court fee stamp worth rupees five affixed in it should be submitted to the Village officer along with the document of ownership i.e. title deed (in original), ration card, land tax receipt and stamp paper worth Rs.50/- The encumbrance certificate for 12 years from the Sub Registrar Office is also to be produced to prove the applicant is solvent. The Certificate will be issued by the Village Officer after making due enquiry within 7 days as per GO (MS)No.300/96/RD dated.12.6.1996. The Village Officer was authorized to issue Solvency Certificate for value not exceeding Rs.5000/- as per GO (MS) No. 567/91/RD dated.12.9.1991. Then the value has been enhanced to Rs.100000/- as per GO (MS) No. 391/05/RD dated 16.12.2005. As per the amendment made on 27.4.2007 as per GO (MS) No.136/07/RD, the value has been enhanced up to Rs.5, 00,000/-

Valuation Certificate: 5.7.6. Application in the white paper or in the format shown with a court fee stamp worth rupees five affixed in it should be submitted to the

4)

.

• • .

• •

32 Village officer along with the document of ownership i.e. title deed (in original), ration card and land tax receipt. The encumbrance certificate for 12 years from the Sub Registrar Office also need to be produced. Valuation Certificate (for value not exceeding Rs.100000/-) will be issued by the Village Officer as per GO (MS) No. 391/05/RD dated 16.12.2005. The Certificate will be issued by the Village Officer after making due enquiry. The Village Officer is empowered to issue valuation certificate for value not exceeding Rs.1, 00,000/- as per GO (MS) No. 391/05/RD dated 16.12.2005.

• • • •

The value has been enhanced up to Rs.5, 00,000/-as per the amendment made by GO (MS) No.136/07/RD dated. 27 .4.2007.

Residence Certificate: 5.7.7. Application duly filled in the prescribed Performa with a court fee stamp worth rupees five affixed in it should be submitted to the

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Village Officer, along with the document of proof like ration card or voters' identity card. The Village Officer is empowered to issue residence

certificate

as

per

GO

(MS)

No.

567/91/RD

dated.12.9.1991. Separate certificate will be issued for each purpose as per GO (MS)No.136/07/RD dated.27.4.2007.

Nativity Certificate: 5.7.8. Application duly filled in the prescribed form with a court fee stamp worth rupees five affixed in it should be submitted to the Village Officer, along with the documents for proof required i.e. property, salary certificate (if employed), ration card and school certificate.

.

SC/ST communities are exempted from paying necessary court fee

stamp. People who are residing outside Kerala should submit the residential certificate along with their application for Nativity

.

.

e

-I

33

S

• • • •

Certificate. The certificate will be issued to those who were born in Kerala, their children and to the children of persons permanently settled in Kerala after their marriage. In all other cases residential certificates will be issued only. The Village Officer is empowered to issue

nativity

certificate

as

per

GO

(MS)

No.

567/91/RD

dated.12.9.1991. The validity period of this certificate has been enhanced

to

dated.27.4.2007.

lifelong

as

per

GO

(MS)No.136/07/RD

Nativity certificates for producing before the

deferse authorities are being issued by the Additional District Magistrate as per (GO (MS)No.201/92/RD dated.20.4.92).

S

• • • •

Identification Certificate: 5.7.9. Application duly filled in the prescribed form with a court fee stamp worth rupees five affixed in it should be submitted to the Village Officer. The proof of identity such as ration card, voters' identity card also need to be appended with the application. The Village Officer is empowered to issue identification certificate as per GO (MS) 1039179/RD dated 06.08.1979 and as per GO (MS) No. 567/91/RD dated12.9.1991. The validity period of this certificate

• S • •

has been enhanced to 10 years as per GO (MS)No.136/07/RD dated.27.4.2007.

Relationship Certificate:

S 5.7.10. Application duly filled in the prescribed form with a court fee stamp

.

worth rupees five affixed in it should be submitted to the Village Officer. The supporting documents hive to be produced along with the aoplication. The Certificate will be issued by the Village Officer

S

• • • S

Kul after making due enquiry regarding the relationship. The Village Officer is empowered to issue relationship certificate as per GO (MS) No. 567/91/RD dated.12.9.1991. Separate certificate will be issued to the husband and wife for each purpose and the others will get the certificate with lifeong validity as per GO (MS)No. 1 36/07/RD dated.27.4.2007.

Family Membership Certificate: 5.7.11. Application duly filled in the prescribed form with a cowl fee stamp worth rupees five affixed in it should be submitted to the Village Officer. The supporting documents like ration card etc. has to be •

produced along with the application. The Certificate will be issued

•

by the Village Officer after due enquiry regarding members of the

•

family. The Village Officer is empowered to issue family

•

membership certificate as per GO (MS) No. 567/91/RD

• • a

.

dated.12.9.1991. The validity period of this certificate has been enhanced to 3 years as per GO (MS)No.136/07/RD dated.27.4.2007

Marital Status Certificate: 5.7.12. Application duly filled in the prescribed form with a court fee stamp worth rupees five affixed in it should be submitted to the Village Officer. The marriage registrationdetails should be produced for verification. The Certificate will be issued by the Village Officer after enquiry regarding marital status. The Village Officer should disclose in the Certificate about the document which he has relied on, while issuing the same (Govt. letter No.81847/D2/87/RD dated 26.5.1988).

-

-

35

Destitute Certificate: 5.7.13. Application duly filled in the prescribed form witha court fee stamp worth rupees five affixed in it should be submitted to the Village •

Officer along with ration card. The Certificate will be issued by the

•

Village Officer after due enquiry. The Village Officer is empowered

*

to issue destitute certificate as per GO (MS) 1039/79/RD dated

•

06.08.1979 The validity period of this certificate has been

• •

• • • • •

enhanced to 3 years as per GO (MS)No.136/07/RD . dated.27.4.2007.

Non-creamy 'ayer Certificate: 5.7.14. Application duly filled in the prescribed form with a court fee stamp worth rupees five affixed in it should be submitted to the Village Officer. The Village Officer is empowered to issue non- Creamy layer Certificate to be produced before the State Government offices only under GO (MS) No. 391/05/RD dated 16.12.2005.

Salary Certificate of father, mother, husband or wife, ration card,

.

details of property etc. are to be produced for verification. The Government of Kerala has issued guidelines to identify the creamy layer

• • • •

among

the

No.36/2000/SCSTDD No.46/2007/SCSTDD

backward dated dated

Classes

as

27.5.2000,

25.8.2007

and

per

GO GO

GO

(P)

(P) (P) No.

117/2008ISCSTDD dated 19/12/2008 The validity period of this certificate is fixed for one year as per GO (Ms) No. 81/08/SCSTDD dated 25/07/2008.

S S

I,

36

• S

Non-remarriage Certificate:

•

5.7.15. Application duly filled in the prescribed form with a court fee stamp

•

worth rupees five affixed in it should be submitted to the Village

•

Officer. The death certificate of her husband, ration card, election identity cards etc. are to be produced along with the application.

The Village Officer is empowered to issue this Certificate under GO (MS) No. 391/05/RD dated 16.12.2005. Separate certificate will be issued for each purpose as per GO (MS)Nc'.136/07/RD dated.27.4.2007

Widow Certificate: 5.7.16. Application duly filled in the prescribed form with a court fee stamp worth rupees five affixed in it should be submitted to the Village Officer. The death certificate of her husband, ration card, election identity cards etc. are to be produced along with the application.

The Village Officer is empowered to issue this Certificate under GO (MS) No. 391/05/RD dated 16.12.2005. Separate certificate wilIbe issued for each purpose as per GO (MS)Nó.136/07/RD dated.27.4.2007.

One and the Same Certificate: 5.7.17. Application duly filled in the white paper/ form affixed with a court fee stamp worth rupees five be submitted to the Village Officer. The supporting documents viz, school registration particulars, election identity card, ration card etc. are to be produced along with the application. The certificate will be issued by the Village Officer after due enquiry.

3 S 37

•

Possession and non-attachment Certificate: •

5.7.18. Application duly written in the prescribed form with the court fee

•

stamp worth rupees five affixed in it should be submitted to the

• •

Village Officer, along with the proof of documents of ownership, possession, land tax receipt, etc. The encumbrance certificate for 12 years from the Sub Registrar Offipe is also to be produced. The Certificate will be issued after verification of the revenue recovery records, possession of the applicant and other details. Certificates for special purposes and for

producing before the Central

Government Offices are issued by the Tahsildar.

S No Land Certificate:

• • • • • • • • S • S. S

•

S

• S

5.7.19. Application duly filled in the white paper or form with a court fee stamp of rupees five affixed be submitted to the Village Officer.

The Certificate will be issued by the Village Officer after due enquiry.

No House Certificate: 5.7.20. Application duly filled in the white paper/ form with a court fee stamp of rupees five affixed in it be submitted to the Village Officer.

The Certificate will be issued by the Village Officer after due enquiry.

Dependency Certificate: 5.7.21. Application duly filled in the white paper/ form with a court fee

.

stamp of Rs.5 affixed be submitted to the Village Officer along with

-4 S

• • •

38 ration card. The Certificate will be issued by the Village Officer after due enquiry.

-

Domicile Certificate:

5.7.22. Application duly filled in the white paper/ form with a court fee stamp of Rs. 5 affixed be submitted to the Village Officer along with the records to prove his domicile. The Village Officer is empowered

.

to issue this Certificate under GO (MS) No. 391!05/RD dated 16.12.2005. The Certificate will be issued by the Village Officer after due enquiry. The validity period of this certificate has been

S

•

enhanced

to

life

long

as

per

GO

(MS)No.136/07/RD

dated.27.4.2007.

Tax Remittance certificate: 5.7.23. Application duly filled in the white paper/ form with a court fee stamp worth rupees five affixed in it should be submitted to the Village Officer along with the details of remittance made, the title deed. The Certificate will be issued by the Village Officer after due enquiry.

Unmarried Certificate: 5.7.24. Application duly filled in the white paper/ form with a court fee stamp of Rs. 5 affixed be submitted to the Village Officer along with the ration card and School certificate. The Certificate will be issued by the Village Officer after due enquiry.

Unemployment Certificate: 5.7.25. Application duly filled in the white paper/ form with a court fee

'IL

39

•

stamp of Rs. 5 affixed be submitted to the Village Officer along with the ration card and School certificate. The Certificate will be issued

•

by the Village Officer after due enquiry.

•

Life Certificate: 5.7.26. Application duly filled in the white paper/ form with a court fee stamp of Rs. 5 affixed be submitted to the Village Officer along with

•

• • • • • • .

the ration card. The Certificate will be issued by the Village Officer after due enquiry.

Protection of Surplus Land and Government property: 5.7.27. Village officer should identify the surplus land and government land in the area under his jurisdiction and protect it for the government.

When the surplus land is set for distribution it is the duty of the village officer to furnish a report to the Tahsildar about the whereabouts of the beneficiaries. Whenever an encroachment on the government land

is noticed, the village officer should

immediately furnish a report to the Tahsildar concerned which comprises the nature of trespass, sketch as well as mahasar of the

• • •

encroachment for taking action. Protection of government property also means protection of trees, soil, pebbles, boulders, metals, sand and stone

Works related to General Administration 5.8.1. Majority of the General Administration in the state is carried out through the village offices, Village officers are often entrusted with

• • • • • • S S

other duties that normally do not related to the Land Revenue Department. Following are such nature of works exercised by the village officers.

:4

.

40

Village Janakeeya Samithy: 5.8.2. So as to ensure public participation in land conservation,utilisatiori activities, to seek solutions to the problems in land ownership of the public and to make the functions of village offices more transparent and efficient, the government have decided to form a forum at village level comprising village officer and

• • •

representatives of

Villagers. Village Officer is the convener of the forum and he has to organise a meeting of the forum on th& 3 rd Saturday of every month.

Land Bank: 5.8.3. For the protection of Government land and also to make land

• • • •

utilization more comprehensive and scientific, government have lounged an ambitious project called Land Bank. As per the project, village officer has to identify and demarcate the land. He has to maintain a register showing sketch and location of the area.

Granting permit for sand mining, rock

• .

• • • • • • • • • •

blasting: 5.8.4. Based on the sketch of the site and report of the village officer, the District Collector concerned grant permission for sand mining and Rock blasting.

Natural calamity/Disaster: 5.8.5. A disaster/natural calamity is an event triggered by natural or

manmade

causes that lead to sudden disruption of normalcy within society, causing wide spread damage to life and property. The Village officer is bound to convey immediate information to the higher officers including the District

41 Collector regarding natural calamity and disaster. As the District Collector is the ex-officio chairman of the District Disaster Management Authority under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, he will initiate immediate steps for the mitigation of the effects of disaster. The Village Officer has to render assistance for evacuation, rescue, relief, shelter, food, clothing, medical aid, sanction, and rehabilitation etc. of the affected.

Election Work: 5.8.6. The Revenue Department is entrusted with the whole process connected with general election work. The duties of District Election Officer are performed by the District Collector and the Electoral Regstration Officer by the Tahsildar and the Assistant Electoral Registration Officer by the Deputy Tahsildar, Election. All other staff of the Revenue Department especially Village staff play a leading role in the entire election process

Chief Minister'sDistress Relief Fund: 5.8.7. This fund was formed with an intention of helping the poor people for the treatment of serious diseases and granting financial aid to the affected persohs who died of mishap and so on. The application should be submitted to the village officer. After enquiry and verification the application is forwarded to the Tahsildar for favour of further necessary action.

Major Routine works in Village offices

Transfer of Registry: 5.9.1. The application duly filled in the prescribed form as per GO (MS) No.75/70/Rev dated15.6.1970 shall be submitted to the Village Officer.

The change of registry in the revenue records will be carried out by the

• • • • • • • • • S

H 42 Village Officer under the provisions of the Transfer of Registry Rules, 1966. The Village Officer was free to effect transfer of registry without subdivision and arising out of succession as per GO (MS) No. 584/91/RD dated. 1.10.1991. An amount of Rs.10/- shall be paid by

the applicant as TR fee as per GO (P) No.610/91/RD dated. 29.10.91.

The transfer of registry applicétions will be disposed by the Village Officer within 15 days from receipt of the application as per GO (MS) No. 584/91/RD dated. 01.10.1991. If the transfer of registry cannot be effected, the Village Officer shall communicate the party concerned within a month.

•

Rightto Information: 5.9.2. The Village Officer is also act as the State Public Information Officer. As the State Public Information Officer in village office, he shall provide the

.

information required for the persons under the provisions contained in the Right to Information Act, 2005.

Collection of taxes/ recoveries/rate of various taxes:

• • • • • • • • • S

5.9.3. The Collection of revenue is the primary duty of the Village Officers under the instructions stipulated in various Act and Rules. Land tax, Building tax, Plantation tax and Luxury tax are some of them.

(See

Annexure. 1)

Revenue Recovery 5.9.4. The establishment/firm who are affecting recovery against the defaulters, should submit an application in Form 24 to the district pollector.

Afterwards, the district collector issue Revenue Recovery Certificate empowering revenue official to start recovery proceedings. Then, it is

o 43 the duty of the Village Officer to furnish a report to the recovery officials..

S

The report includes full details of the defaulter, his properties and the sketch of the location. The services of Village staff is highly necessary for the execution of demand notice and confiscation of property. It is the

S

duty of the village officer to keep the confiscated property under his safe custody. His presence is also required at the time when the confiscated

S

property is placed for auction.

-.

Land Relinquishment: 5.9.5. Land owners can relinquish right on their property at their own will to

S

the Government for welfare/developmental activities of the state.

S S

Application for this purpose should be submitted to the Revenue Divisional Officer concerned. The Revenue Divisional Officer forward the same for report of the Village Officer through the Tahsildar. The

I I

report furnished by the village officer should include sketch of the property, Mahassar, Extract of basic tax register and copy of title deed.

I

Protection of Survey marks: I I I

5.9.6. The Village Officer in entrusted with the following duties as per the provisions contemplated in section 17 of the Survey and boundaries Act, 1961. a) To prevent the destruction, injury, removal or alteration, of any survey mark on or within the limits of his jurisdiction

I

b) When he becomes aware that any such mark has been destroyed, removed or altered, the mailer has to be reported to the Taluk Surveyor by an entry in an Inspection register. An extract of which

I I

should be submitted periodically

rd 5.9.7. If the registered holder of any land fail to repair demarcation of survey marks within the period specified in the notice, the officer concerned under the Act shall renew or repair the survey marks at Government cost, which will be recovered later from the registered holder of the land. In the case of a survey mark on the boundary between Government land and registered land, the registered holder or the owner of land touching the survey is liable to be responsible for the maintenance..

Cardamom Settlement: 5.9.8. This rule is applicable only to ldukki district. The act contemplates that a person who illegally occupied government land for cardamom cultivation may be given the said land on lease for 20 years without auction for cardamom cultivation. The village officer should prepare a register containing sketch of the land in this regard and should be kept in safe custody.

Ponnumvila Procedures: •

5.9.9. As per the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 and Land Acqusition (Kerala) Act of 1990 the government is vested with the power for acquisition of the appropriate land for national interest by paying compensation to

. the land owner is vested with Government. It is the duty of the Village Officer to measure the land to be acquired and prepare subdivision sketch for each processions and submit the same to the Tahsildar for further actions.

45

•

:

. Seizure of illegally mined sand and prevention of illegal sand mining: 5.9.10. The village officer is responsible for confiscating illegally mined sand

•

and prevention of illegal sand mining with the help of Police force.

•

Also, he is responsible for the safe custody of the material until it is

•

disposed of. The village officer should also initiate proceedings for

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • S • • S S

auction.

Prevention of illegal land filling: 5.9.11. As per the Kerala Land Conservancy Act, it is prohibited to fill the agricultural land for any other purpose including domestic and industrial.

If any such act is noticed by the village officer, he should immediately prevent such illegal activity with the help of police and report the matter to the Tahsildar forthwith..

Various Welfare Schemes: 5.9.12. Many welfare schemes such as financial assistance for T.B patients, Leprosy patients and Cancer patients are implemented through the Revenue Department. Applications in this regard are to be submitted to the Tahsildar or the Village Officer concerned.

Enquiry on the

applications is carried out by the village officer.

Disaster Relief: 5.9.13.Disaster Relief is granted in the following cases on the enquiry report of the Village Officer.

4.

Damage to Agriculture, Plantations, Vegetable farming etc

4• When land is lost due to landslide or deviation of the course of the river

S 0 FN

S 4 Mishap to Live stock

4• When any damage to the property of fishermen occurs due to monsoon damages

4 Damage to the tools of Craftsmen

0

4 Damage to house + For the emergency supply of drinking water • Damage to welts

0

4 To purchase medicine, fàod, clothing for disaster affected area 9 To remove stagnant filthy water and wastes in order to prevent breeding of mosquitoes

0 S S S S S S S S S S

9 For rescue operations, search operations

Other functions SI.

F Name of Act/Rules

Functions

The Kerala Survey and 1 fprevent destruction, removal, alteration of survey Boundaries Act, 1961 and Rules 964 marks, furnish reports to Tahsildars, collection of Survey dues etc. jlrrigation Cess [{ëollection of tax /revenue maintenance of records a Ikerala Building Tax Act 3 [Collection of tax /revenue and maintenance of records

I

L

r

bIeii Ire maintenance of records

5 Throtect Government land from encroachment, collection of dues and furnishing reports on encroachment

•l

[i Enquiry on land

Revenue Recovery Act -.

Kerala Land Conservancy Act

I Kerala land relinquishment Act

relinqthshrnent

S S S S

[Recoveryofarrears

!Kerala Land Development Act

a 47 8fFurnhingreport ollection_of dues 9 [Ti Collection of dues

1

11 Collection of dues

[T Ăą 13 r14 15

.

16 17

enquiry reports, collection of dues and maintenance of records [Management of surplus land jand collection of usufructs JManagementof receiver property [urnish preliminary information on escheated cases to Tahsildar and management of escheated property JEnquiry and report to the Tahsildar [Enquiry and report to the Tahsildar

1

S 118 Report on Transfer of Registry cases 19 Furnish enquiry reports

S S S

.

S S 5 S S

[o[urnish enquiry reports 7ish enquiry reports r21 fl22 [Furnish enquiry reports 23 [&nish enquiry reports r24 1Furnish enquiry repo rt s

I

[26 Furnish enquiry reports -' 27 IFurnish enquiry reports

[Kerala Land Utilisation Order Iseulement scheme patta Rules Rules for sale of land for coffee and tea cultivation rules,1974 Rules for lease of land to Government offices and Bungalow IRules for lease of Government land for tobacco cultivation Kerala Land Reforms Act Civil Procedure Code,1908 erala Escheats'and Forfeitures rAct 1964 and Rules, 1965

Kerala Treasure Trove Act, 1968 and Rules 1971 The Kerala Scheduled Tribes (Restriction on transfer of lands and restoration of alienated lands) Act, 1975 and Rules 1986 Transfer of Registry Rules, 1966, :Kerala Minor Mineral Concessions Rules 1967 jArms Act and Rules Explosives Act and Rules Government orders on issue of certificates Kandukrishi land Assignment Rules, 1958 Sreepandaravaka lands and Rules IThe Kerala Service Inam lands V&E) Act 1981 and Rules 1981 Ikannan Devan Hills (resumption) (

• • •.

• • • • • • • • •.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

48 At ct

1981 and Rules 1981 28 Enquiry report, updating of Govt. Orders on issue of Patta to land records etc. beneficiaries of one lakh housing scheme 29 Enquiry and report S&n?&r6viion of House sites to rur& poor 30 Enquiry and report Rules for issue of Record of Rights to occupants of iporamboke land 31 Enquiry and report IGovt. Orders on transfer of Govt. land from one department to another 32 Enquiry and report rGovt. Orders on sanction of financial assistance from Chief 'Ministers distress relief fund 33 Enquiry and report Rules for sanction of financial assistance to Leprosy patients 34 Enquiry and report Rules for sanction of financial assistance to Cancer patients 35 Enquiry and report Rules for sanction of freedom fighter pension 36 Enquiry and report Rules for sanction of pension to Circus artists 37 :rqry and report to the Rules for sanction of pension to Tahsildar Men of Arts and Letters Scheme for legal aid to poor 38 Enquiry and report to the Rules for sanction of pension to Tahsildar Ex-land lords I 39 Enquiry and report to the rscheme for employment Tahsildar lassistance to dependents of Govt.; servants died in harness 40 Collection of arrears Low income group housing scheme 41 Collection of arrears [Middle income group housing scheme 42 Collection of arrears iRehabilitation housing scheme 43 Collection of arrears Kudikidappukar's housing scheme __44 Collection of arrears Kerala Land Reforms Tenancy Rules, 1970

[

-

-

- -

'

• •.

• • • • • I

I I I I I I

• I • a W

I

• • I • I • •

I I I I I

49 45 Updating of land records

Ker&a Land Reforms (vesting and assignment) Rules, 1970 Scheme for providing financial jassistance to victims of Natural calamity and disaster

46 Render assistance for evacuation, rescue, relief, shelter, food, clothing, medical aid, sanction, rehabilitation etc. of the affected 47 Enquiry and report

Scheme for death compensation to the legal heirs of the NRls rScheme for grant of financial assistance to the widows for marriage_of their daughters National Old Age Pension Scheme

48 Enquiry and report.

49 Enquiry report to the local self Govt.

50 Enquiry report to the local self Govt.

51 Enquiry report to the local self Govt.

52 Enquiry report to the local self Govt.

53 Enquiry and report 54 Enquiry report to LSG 55 Enquiry and report to LSG

56 :nqjjfty and report 57 Collection of arrears 58 ProvEding site plans to Courts 159 Enquiry and report 60 Arrangement of polling •stations 61 Enquiry and report 62 Enquiry and report

- -

-

jcheme for payment of — nsi to physically Handicapped National Maternity benefit scheme

--

pension to unmarried women

labove 50 years IScheme for unemployment wages Aicultural workers pension Financial Assistance for marriage of daughter's of women belonging to scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes IRules of assignment of Govt. land for industrial purpose Rules for grant of land improve merit and Agricultural loan The Kerala Survey and IlBoundaries Act, 1961 IThe Citizenship Act Election Manual/Conduct of Election Rules Foreign Contrthution Act :Prevention of atrocities against SC/ST Act

&

4

50

S S S S S S

63 jEnquiry and report 64 [Rendering assistance

lJoint verification of Tribal lands IJoint verification of Forest lands For Coffee registration

65 [Rendering assistance 66 [Enquiry and report [ëT[nquiry and report [ëiEnquiry and report [69

S

I

IFor cardamom registration

-

Mental Health Act

and repo rt

Prevention of Cruelty towards Animals Act Criminal Procedi.ire Code

I

r° [furnish report 71 Furnish report

-

-

-

-

r72 i

-

-

Furnish report

-

-

~V6

S S S S S S S S S S S

S S

175lFurnish report

Agricultural pests and Diseases Act,1958 Kerala Anatomy Act 1 1957 IKerala Forest Act,1961

73 [Furnish report rnish report 74

S S S S

Evacuees Property Act

-

-

Kerala livestock improvement Act,1961 Kerala Panchayat Raj Act Criminal Justice

[76 Furnish report

RVI

H

I

•

51

Work Measurement and Analysis

•

5.10.1 It came to the notice of the work study team that the village offices in the state face not only prdblems related to lack of infrastructure but also grave issues related to rendering of services. A few of them are given below:

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Tax Collection 5.10.2. Tax collection is one of the important functions of Village Offices.

Various

type of taxes viz, Land tax, One time building tax, Luxury tax, Plantation tax etc., are collected through village offices. In most of the village offices, full time service of a Village AssistantlSpecial Village Officer is utilized for the collection of various type of taxes.

5.10.3.There is no specific time schedule for collection of taxes in village offices.

The Tax Payer can remit tax at anytime between 10 am and 5 pm. This causes certain difficulty to the staff as they have to enter the details of each day's collection in the Day Book Register in the äame day itself.

Limiting of remittance time to 4pm may help village staff to furnish the cash balance statement by 5pm and this will help them start the collection of taxes early in the next day. Hence the work study team recommend that the time for remitting various taxes may be limited up to 4 pm in order to ensure healthy functioning of village offices.

• •

Preparation of Database and issue of Computer generated Receipts 5.10.4. At present there have no comprehensive database system with details of

• • • • •.

• • •

land

and

landowners

manual/handwritten

in

village

offices.

receipts still continues.

The

practice

of

This practice

issuing is time

consuming when compared to computer-generated receipts. By entering the details of land and landowners in computer at the time of tax

I

52

• •

collection, a database can be created gradually within a period of one or

•

two years and the same may be updated during the time of further

•

collection of tax. Therefore, the work study team suggest to introduce

•

computer-generated receipts for all type of taxes in village offices,

•

•

•

immediately.

Enhancement of cash limit at hand

•

5.10.5. As per the existing instructions, the tax amount collected at village offices

•

has to be remitted in Treasury after verification by the Taluk Officer

•

concerned, not exceeding the limit of Rs.5000/- or once in a fortnight whichever is earlier. Since the number of land holders, commercial buildings, residential buildings etc. has increased considerably, collection of various taxes in village offices may run into thousands of rupees per day. As such, the Village staff have to visit the Taluk office and Treasury quite often for remitting the payments. This cause wastage of time and labour and also hinder normal activities of the village offices. In this circumstance, the cash limit of Rs.5000/- need to be increased. The work

•

study team suggest that the limit of cash that can be kept by the

•

village staff should be enhanced to Rs. 10000!-.

Realistic revision of land tax 5.10.6. Unlike in the past, the value of land across the state has been rising •

considerably at present. But tax collected in village office is very meager

•

and not proportionate to the land value. Even though the tax rate was

•

revised last year, it was done disproportionately. This causes huge deficit

•

in revenue collection to the state exchequer. Therefore, the work study -

•

team recommend that the rate of land tax should be revised in a

•

pragmatic manner proportionate to the land value.

• • • • • •

• • • • • •

53 Luxury Tax 5.10.7. In addition to Building Tax, Luxury tax of Rs. 2000/- has also been imposed on House Buildings having more than 278:7 Square. Mete. If it were completed on or after 01/04/1999. This flat rate is applicable to all other big mansions even with 10000 S.ft.

In other words this flat rate is

applicable to 3000 S.ft houses and 10000 s.ft houses alike. This Flat Luxury Tax of Rs.2000/- can never be justified. There should be a slab

•

system of Rs. 2000/- to houses having 3000 to 4000 S.ft and Rs. 5000/- to houses having 4001 to 5000 s.ft.

5.10.8. 'Home' is a dream of millions of people. But the resources are limited. In this scenario, it is inappropriate that a small section of the community is

.

enjoying a lions' share of the resources. Moreover, an increased house building tax will discourage the trend of constructing huge houses for a small family of 4 members. Therefore the work study team suggest that

• • • •

a slab system in the case of Luxury Tax as recommended in pre para should be introduced in the state urgently.

Lease Rate 5.10.9. Government Land and Fruit Trees are being given on nominal lease for a year. See the Table below

S El -.4 S S S S S S S S S S S

Trees

Period

Rate!Tree

Cocunut Tree

1 Year

Rs. 50

Arecanut

1 Year

Rs.25

Jack Tree

1 Year

Rs.15

Palm

1 Year

Rs. 8

Tamarind

1 Year

Rs.25

Mango tree

1 Year

Rs. 25

Cashew Tree

1 Year

Rs. 21

'0

54 Land

Period

Rate/Cent

Land

1 Year

Rs. 1.50

Oruppu nilam

1 Year

Rs. 1.50

Irippu nilam

1 Year

Rs. 2.25

5.10.10. From the table it could be seen that Government property is being leased to outside at a cheap rate. One kilo of Mango will cost Rs. 30/- even on

a

peak season. But the Government get only Rs. 25/- for a single Mango Tree. It is high time to revise the Lease Rate. Therefore the work study

S

team recommend for revising the Lease rates year by year at a reasonable rate and the same will be resulted in the revenue of the Government.

S S S S S

Assessment of Building Taxi Booking of new building 5.10.11 .Now, Village Officers have to conduct field visits in search of new buildings if any have been constructed in the village area and also to assess and collect One Time Building Tax. Here it is to be noted that Local Self Government Institutions are entrusted with the duty of assigning number to newly constructed building. As far as the owners of buildings are

S S

concerned, permit from the Local Self Governments is inevitable for

S

for remittance of one time building tax, the owners will automatically

availing electricity and water connections. If Local Self Governments insist approach the village office for remitting one time building tax. This method will help the village officer to identify new constructions, save much time

S S S S S S S S S

and focus on other utility job. Hence the work study team suggest that necessary instructions should be given to the Local Self Government Institutions to make it mandatory the remittance of One Time Building Tax in advance in village offices for allocation of number to newly constructed buildings.

55

Permifting Village Field Assistant to collect tax and issue receipts 5.10.12. In village offices, the responsibility of collecting various type of taxes is assigned to Village Assistants/Special Village Officers. The Village Field Assistants are assigned with the duty of serving notices, protection of land stones, assisting Village Officer for measurement of land/building, cash remittance etc. The post of Village Field Assistant belong to ClassIll. It is a fact that in most of the village offices, Village Field Assistants help Village Assistants by filling chalans for tax collection even though they are not authorized to do so. If the Village Field Assistants are also authorized tax collection(in addition to Village Assistants), it will help to reduce the difficulties being faced in most of the Village Offices due to heavy workload. For this, the qualification for the post of Village Field Assistant need to be revised. As per the existing norms, qualification for the post of VFA is pass in 7th standard. It should be revised to a pass in 10th standard or equivalent. If the above recommendation is implemented, it will ensure optimum utilization of existing staff without any extra cost and will help the Village Offices become more customer-friendly. Therefore the work study team recommend that necessary orders be issued authorizing Village Field Assistants for the collection of various taxes also. Their qualification for the post of Village Field Assistants be revised as pass in 10th standard or equivalent.

Bifurcation of Villages 5.10.13. Every village in Kerala is different from one another in area, population, geographical nature, living standard of natives and occupation etc.

Boundary of a village is normally determined by considering the above criteria. But some villages are remarkable for their wide area or population. Most of the big villages located in Idukki and Wayanad districts are with natives of tribal people who are concentrated on some pockets

56 viz settlements inside the forest. These people will have to travel long distance to get to the village offices. Moreover, transportation facility in these areas is insufficient. So is the case with the village staff also. They have to travel deep into these forest settlements for field visit where transportation facility is inadequate. Therefore the Work Study team recommend bifurcation of group villages immediately to ensure effective delivery of service to the public.

Revenue Recovery 5.10.14. Revenue Department also act as a wing to make revenue recovery from individuals or institutions in favour of Government Bodies or Public Sector Undertakings as per requirement. Nationalised Banks, KSFE, KSEB, Water Authority, BSNL etc. often rely on the Revenue Department for effecting recovery from their defaulted customers. 5% percentage of the amount recovered from the defaulted party is allotted to the Revenue Department towards the cost of recovery proceedings and it become possible only after the completion of recovery proceedings. In some cases, it is seen that when the recovery proceedings are initiated, the party concerned approach the parent department where the amount is due and make an one-time settlement. In such cases, the Revenue Department does not get 5 % of defaulted amount towards cost of recovery proceedings. Actually the Revenue Department cost expense for the recovery related proceedings like serving of notices etc. Hence the Study Team recommend for inserting a condition in the Rules and Procedures related to Revenue Recovery that . an lnstitution!Department approaching Revenue Department for recovery related proceedings should remit 5 % amount in advance to the Revenue Department.

57

Seizure of Sand, Earth and rock etc..

5.10.15. Another major work assigned to village office is the seizure of illegally mined sand, earth, rock etc. With the boom in construction field, illegal mining of natural resources is also on the increase. A village officer is also made responsible for capturing these illegally mined natural resources and handover to the police for further proceedings. Situation is that, without enough police force a village officer dares to encounter a powerful mafia which has enough political support and money power, by jeopardizing his life. The village authorities are not provided with vehicle and self protection gear while they set out for these risky job. These type of work can only be done with the help of a force. The work study team heard many harrowing tales of village officers during our interaction with them. In several instances the police were not ready to co-operate with the revenue authorities. In this circumstances the work study team suggest that the village authorities should be exempted from the work of seizure of illegally mined sand, earth and rock etc. instead, a Revenue Task Force under the control of a Deputy Tahsildar, Headquarters be formed at Taluk level wherever required, without creation and recruitment of further staff.

Permanent Conveyance Allowance 5.10.16. Village Officers and Village Assistants often travel across the village concerned for enquiries in connection with land and landowners. But only a nominal amount is allowed to them for the purpose as permanent conveyance allowance. An amount of Rs.110/- and Rs.100/- per month is allowed to the Village Officer and Village Assistant respectively as Permanent Conveyance Allowance (PCA). Moreover, before issuing a certificate to the applicant, the Village Officer has the responsibility to conduct proper enquiry in order to ensure the veracity of the details

claimed. In most cases, the village officer has to conduct field enquiries.

Similarly in connection with protection of boundary stones, preservation of land and other enquiries, Village Assistants have also to travel through out the village. As said earlier, Village Officers and Village Assistants have often to travel across the village for conducting enquiries in connection with all and sundry affairs taking place in a village office. But they are allowed only a nominal amount for the purpose as permanent conveyance allowance. An amount of Rs.110/- and Rs.100/- per month is allowed to the Village Officer and Village Assistant respectively as Permanent Conveyance Allowance (PCA). This amount is very rTieager and will not help them to manage all their official journeys. What is seen practiced in the village off!ce is that, the stake holders who come for various purposes are asked to arrange vehicles for the field visit. This situation will lead to corruption and unfair practices. So it is high time to probe for some solutions. Hence the Work Study Team recommend that the Permanent Conveyance Allowance (PCA) for Village Officer and Village Assistant have to be enhanced to Rs.2501- and Rs.200/- per month respectively.

Inadequate Time for the execution of orders 5.10.17. Being the field level unit of government administration, village employees have to attend to a lot of work relating to general administration such as Election works, Law and Order issues, New welfare schemes and projects, Land acquisition, Paddy field conservation and many more. The Government and the Revenue department need a lot of field level information for various projects and schemes. It is the Village Office that collects the necessary information for the Government and the Revenue Department. Since the work of data collection involves extensive field visit, the village authorities need a lot of time for compiling data. But. the authorities never give sufficient time for necessary data collection. Under

59 the pressure of superior officers the village officer is compelled to furnish inaccurate information to the authorities concerned which inturn spoil the very purpose of the Projects/Schemes. Therefore, the work study team recommend that for major data collection work the Tahsildar should hold a discussion with the village officers for arriving at a consensus on the time frame of the data collection and sufficient time should be given accordingly.

Contingency Fund 5.10.18. Whenever an emergency situation like natural calamities happen, it is the

.

village employees who run to the spot first. They engage in rescue operations and co-ordinate rehabilitation activities. For all these initial operations, the village officer always find money from his pocket. Likewise, the village officer always find himself in a tight situation When it comes to

• • • • • • • 40

the payment of office electricity charge, water charge and telephone charge. Though these casual expenses will be reimbursed later from the taluk office it usually take several months. Against this background the work

study

team

suggest

to

form

a

Fund

Contingency

of

Rs.1,00,000/- at Taluk level with the Tahsildar as the custodian of the fund in order to meet contingency expenses at village level.

Compulsory Service in Village Offices 5.10.19. Village Offices are the grass root level unit of the Revenue administration.

People approach the village offices first for every matters connected with the government. Every village staff deal with the subjects relating to Revenue administration, Law and Order problems, Land administration and Protection, Welfare measures and many other subjects related to General

• • -S

Administration

of the

government.

Moreover

employees should be well versed with the rules and

the

village

regulations of

I

• • •

60 revenue village administration. It is not an exaggeration to say that nothing happens in a village without their knowledge.

5.10.20. But, it is very unfortunate to note that many employees of the Revenue Department have no experience of working in village offices. Many of

• • • • • • •

them are reluctant to work in village offices and they are known to use even political influence to escape posting in viliage offices. When these employees get promotion as Village officers, only then they come to work in Villages offices. How can a Village Officer who has no working experience in village administration discharge his duties effectively?. How can a revenue employee manage the administration of a Taluk without the administrative knowledge of its basic unit?. On the whole, the result is the degeneration of governess in the Revenue Department. The work study team took

note of this terrible

situation

and

thereby the team

recommends that every employee in the Revenue department should have at least 2 years of service in a village office and the service in village offices should be made mandatory for getting promotion to

• • •

the post of Village officer, Revenue inspector and head Clerk.

.

Work Load Analysis

5.11.1. As far as a village office is concerned, the major activity lies in the issuance of certificates. . The work load in a village office is always increasing proportionately to the increase in population and social welfare schemes.

There are more than 25 type of certificates are being issued from the village offices. The village officer is authorized to issue different kind of certificates, which are to be used at state level. For certificates to be used at national level, the village officer has to prepare a report and send to the

61 Tahasildar. Thus, the lion's share of the day's working time of village officer is being spent for this. For instance, the pattern of certificate issuance for the first half of the year 2010 and 2011 atChingoli Village Office under Karthikapally Taluk is shown below.

1200 r - -

1000

200

600

400 -.

200

0

L

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

June

—t-2010 —2011

It can clearly be seen from the graph that there is considerable increase in certificate issuance during 2011 when compared to 2010. This upward trend is applicable to all types of works in village offices.

5.11.2. Before issuing a certificate of any kind (Nativity Certificate, Income Certificate, Community Certificate etc.), the Village Officer has to conduct necessary field enquiry for ensuring the veracity of the facts as declared by applicants. But the Village Officers are forced to avoid field enquiries in most of the cases due to accumulation of applications. An average of more than 70 applications are seen received for various certificates in many of the village offices in the state. This accumulation of applications forced the village staff to depend on second-hand/indirect information

I

• • • S

62 which is collected from the general public without proper enquiry. This leads undeserving applicants to gain benefit.

5:11.3. Normally there are two posts of Village Assistants in a village office and the village Assistants are supposed to assist the Village Officer in all office works as well as field duty. Village Assistants have regular duties related

• • • • • • •

to collection of taxes, transfer of registry (pokkuvaravu) etc. Hence, in

•

5.11.4. As said earlier, the Village officer is responsible for conducting enquiry

•

and submit reports to the District Collector, Revenue Divisional Officer

•

(R.D.O.), Land Tribunals, Civil Courts, Tahsildar, Special Tahsildar (R.R.

•

& L.A.), etc. and even spot mahassar to local police station. Before

•

issuing/submitting a report, the Village Officer has to made necessary

•

most of the village offices, the Village Assistants/Special Village Officers have little time to help the Village Officer in processing applications for various kinds of certificates.

This situation causes accumulation of

applications in the village office. This may lead to the issuance of certificate without proper enquiry.

The above situation may also cause

nepotism and bribery. So it is high time to probe for measures to rectify the defect.

enquiries / site inspection to ensure the veracity of the facts. For conducting enquiries, the Village Officer either assigns the duty by himself or authorize the Special Village Officer / the Village Assistant for conducting spot enquiry. Normally, due to the lack of conveyance facility, the village staff does not conduct field visit for a single case. Instead, field visit are undertaken for indispensable cases only. A number of field enquiry cases are taken together and they undertake an onetime field visit

•

for enquiry cases. Usually the Village Officer, Special Village Officer or

•

the Village Assistant conduct field visit separately covering 2 to 4 hours a

•

day. Since field visit is an essential procedure to ensure the veracity of

•

the claims of the applicant and also to ensure that the certificate is issued

• S • • S

/ 4 63

• •

to the needy and the deserved, the work study team decided to allot 3

•

hours per day for each clerical staff in Village Offices for enquiry cases(

*

One hour each to the Village officer and the other two Village a 1ssistants).

•

This 3 hours time per day in total can be utilised for conducting enquiries

•

by the Village Officer, Special Village Officer. or the Village Assistant.

• 0

ID

• S S S

• • • S

From the Pie diagram it can be seen that 16% of the total daily office time is set apart for field visit only.

5.11.5. If the service of a Village Assistant is made available for processing the applications, it will be a great help to the village officer for timely disposal of applications . But the area of tax collection, pokkuvaravu etc. often hinder the village assistants in the timely disposal of applications. If the

S S S S

Village Field Assistants are also authorized for collection of taxes, the village assistants will get sufficient time for dealing with the applications for certificates received in the village office In such a way the Village Officer can spent free time for focusing on other works. Such a modification in work allotment may help functioning village offices smoothly.

S S S S 0

Other Works

• Other • Works

o,

n Other Works

V.A

Duties assign ed by Vt)

• X-c---,

•• /lroce • ( ssing

Tax Collection

V.F.A

5.11.6. A change in work allotment methodology as proposed above will help to solve the above problem to a certain extent. The work study team could realized that some village offices are suffering more because of the exorbitant area of the village, population or enormous number of applications for various certificates. The time required for processing an application and issuing certificate varies from one case to another. In some cases the procedure may be simple and can be done after verifying the records available in village offices or available with the applicant. But sometimes it necessitates field enquiry and have to spend more time.

5.11.7. The factors which affect the volume of various applications in a Village Office are shown below.

Population Occupation

;Finañc hal •..

Condit • ton

cast

0 S S S S S S S S S

65 If an average of 10 minutes is to be allotted for issuing a certificate, a village officer can issue an average of 30 certificates per day pending 300 minutes (ie. 5 hours per day).This means that 81% of the working time of an employee per day is utilized for issuing certificates only.

S S

~Jo

S S S S S I S

369

Q

• Total Time 369

min

• Time for Certificates. 300 nun. 83%

5.11.8. If the number of applications increases, the situation may become more complicated as mentioned above. Nepotism and bribery may set-in and

S I

•

thereby spoiling the reputation of the village and ultimately may spoil the goodwill of the Government.

5.11.9. Whenever Government launches welfare schemes, there will be a rush of people to obtain eligibility certificates such as income certificates, caste certificates etc. During school re-opening time, there will be another rush

S

of people. Along with the issue of certificates, the Village Officer has to look after other routine affairs such as Pokkuvaravu, land matters etc. He

S S S

0 S S S

has also to carry out the instructions of the higher level Revenue officers with regard to general administration; attend meetings, conferences, hold meetings etc. This also consumes large portion of a village officer's time.

As said earlier, the village officer is a touring officer who has to visit every

4 I I I I

66 nook and corner of the village. The Village officer entrust the Village Assistants to conduct field visit in certain cases. Work connected with Pokkuvaravu and issue of location certificate necessitate field visit.

I I I

Activities connected with protection of boundary stones, government lands, and implementation of welfare measures, necessitate field visit of the village officer in the length and breadth of the village.

5.11.10. Along with the issue of certificates, the village staff has to collect various

I

taxes like land tax, building tax (one time tax), luxury tax, plantation tax etc. One of the two village assistants is entrusted with the duty. On a comparative analysis, it is identified that an average of 50 receipts are issued from a village office per day. If the tax payer come for remitting tax

I I I I I I

with specific details like old receipts, fresh tax receipt writing becomes easier for the staff and requires very little time. If such details are not available, the village staff has to verify the volume of registers for identifying survey number and Tandaperu etc. In normal cases, the village staff after identifying the details in the register, calculate tax, accept the amount, write fresh receipt and enter details in the registers. Altogether this process requires an average of 7 minutes per case. If there are 50 receipts per day, the village staff has to spend 350 minutes per day for

a

writing receipts only. This means that 5.8 hours per day is spend for the

I

issuance of Tax receipt.

a a a a a a a a a a a a a

5.11.11. As per the work study norms an employee has to work for 1700 man hours in a year which includes time allotted for personal and fatigue allowance @ the rate of 15%. As far as a Village Office is concerned, a village assistant has to spend 1575 Man Hours in a year for writing receipts only. See the diagram on the previous page. If the number of receipts increases, time required for the activity also increases.

67 5.11.12. Transfer of Registry or Pokkuvaravu is another important activity that take place in village office. However, no Pokuvaravu activity is being done in villages across Malabar Region because Land Resurvey has not been completed there. The required forms duly filled with supporting details are sent to the village office through Sub Registrar offices. If it is a case of full •

sub division (sale/disposal of the whole area), all formalities are done in the village office itself. But if it is a case of sub-division (sale or disposal of part area), the village officer has to send a report to the Taluk office inorder to get their consent. In both cases, the details are to be entered in the registers kept in the village office. In order to ensure the genuinity of the sale/ disposal, the village staff has to visit the site and if required the measurement of the plot also has to be done. An average of four cases of Pokkuvaravu are seen received in most of the village offices. From receipt to disposal of applications (except the field visit), the process require a minimum time of 45 minutes. If there is 4 such cases are dealt with in an office, a minimum of 3 hours are required per day amounting to 810 man hours per annum.

5.11.13. Along with the issuance of certificates, tax collection, Pokkuvaravu, Meeting/Conference, there are other duties also connected with land matters and general administration. Work connected with election, census, prevention of unauthorized sand mining, encroachment, and preservation of boundary stones, waterbeds, and agricultural land etc., also demand time and labour from the village staff. During times of natural calamity like flood, drought, earth quake, tsunami, etc., the village staff are required to be present in the troubled areas to alleviate difficulties of the affected people. The Village Officer has to attend at least two meetings in a month.

Many of other works mentioned above are of seasonal nature. But village employees shall be ready to face any emergency situations.

68

•

•

5.11.14. It is reasonable to give 10 hours in a month for all such other works to

•

the village employees. Hence, the total time will be amounting to 120

•

Man hours in an year. It is not at all an exaggeration to say that nothing

•

happens in a village without the knowledge of the village staff.

5.11.15. As far as the Village Office is concerned, there are more than 45 different

• • • • • •

.

types of registers, including Jamabandhi register. The three clerical staff and the Village Officer is obliged to keep the registers up to date and make it ready for inspection at any time by higher officers. According to the workstudy norms, a synthetic time of 20 minutes can be allotted to each functionary for the maintenance of registers. Hence total time in this way will be of 60 minutes per day which will amount to 270 Man Hours per annum.

•

• • •

_____________

mTime for Registers&Records management. 270 h/51 00

5.11.16. In the case of a Village Office, most of the registers are maintained during the time of working hours. For example, when the time of transfer of Registry or issue of certificate is done, entries in the registers concerned are also done simultaneously. Many Village officers complained to the

•

• • • • •

work study team that the registers are not supplied to them in time.

-b

Therefore, they have to prepare duplicate registers all by themselves

S

buying note books from outside. This may affect the confidence level of

S S

the staff and lead them to unfair practices. The department may,

S

registers and other stationery to them at the appropriate time

therefore, take every initiative in the direction of supplying necessary

5.11.17. As such, village offices function with an average issuance 60 various

S

certificates, 60 to 70 land tax receipts, besides other routine works. But

S

they are compelled to function with the existing staff pattern. According to the work study norms if the total work load of a clerical functionary does not exceed one third of 1700 man hours annually, there is no scope for additional staff. The excess work load up to a maximum quantum of one

S S S S

third (up to an annual maximum of 570 man hours for a single functionary) may well be annulled.

5.11.18. It was also identified that the work load in a village office has an oscillating nature. Work load in a Village Office for the first 4 months during 2010 is shown below.

S S S

2500

2000

S

o Crtfcts

1500

o Tax

S

1000

0

500 0

S S S S

S

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

PokuvaravU

70 S It can be seen from the graph that work load in a village is not uniform

S S S

but rather seasonal. This workload more depends upon welfare policies of Government, General Election and School reopening period 5.11.19. During peak season like school re-opening time, there is a tendency to rise the work load to its maximum (See the diagram. During the month of May, June and July in the year 2010 and 2011, number of certificates

S

issued is more than that of the remaining months.)

S

S S

1 Noof

I

Certificates issued during 2010 and 2011

I

S S S S S S S

S

5.11.20. Apart from the peak season as mentioned above, the functioning of a village office is working in a soft rhythm. The Department can think of

S S S

71

• •

•

providing the village staff with incentives, good service entry and similar honours inorder to encourage better performance among themselves.

5.11.21. In the case of village offices with more than 60 certifioates and 70 land tax

• • • • • • • • • •

receipts as out turn per day can think of creation of an additional post of Lower Division Clerk. The Department is on the lookout for total computerization. In this circumstances,

the service of an

LDC having

computer knowledge can be utilized far better. For instance, in certain villages in Palakkad District, the Department

has started issuing

certificates and doing Pokkuvaravu in collaboration with Akshaya centers.

5.11.22. With regard to the creation of post, a few things have to be taken into account. The creation of post can be done in the feeder category of lower division clerk. At the same time, the category of Special Village Officer (senior most UDC) may be renamed as Assistant Village Officer.

Simultaneously, duties and powers of the Village Officer in connection with the issuance, of certificates may also be delegated to the Assistant Village Officer for issuing certificates in the absence of the Village Officer. When the \'illage Officer is absent, people will be able to get certificates under the seal and signature of the Assistant Village Officer. Therefore the work study team recommend that the post of Special Village Officer

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

be renamed as Assistant Village Officer without change of pay or rank and to authorize him to issue certificates in the absence of the Village Officer.

5.11.23. At present, if a village officer is not available or on leave, the Tahasildar concerned take initiative for handovering charge of the Village Officer. The charge of the village officer

is handed over to the village officer of the

neibouring village. This create great difficulty to the public of both the villages as well as to the village officer assuming additional charge. During the period of the study, the team noticed certain village Offices in the State with the post of the village officer lying vacant for long period. If the Village

72 Officer holding additional charge is at an affordable distance, he will be able to manage the affairs to a certain extend. If not he will not be able to manage things smoothly.

5.11.24. In the case of authorization of additional charge in Village Offices, the Revenue Department can have other options also. At present there are minimum posts of Deputy Tahasildars attached to each Taluk. Each Deputy Tahasildar is holding the charge of two to three Village Offices.

They conduct routine visit to the village offices and supervise the activities going on there. The post of Deputy Tahasildar is a promotion post of Village Officer. Hence the Deputy Tahsildar is well versed in the day to day affairs of the village Offices. The absence of the Village Officer can be managed effectively by handing over full additional charge of the Village Office to the Deputy Tahasildar concerned. The department can think of providing special allowance to the Deputy Tahasildar for holding full additional charge of the Village Offices.

5.11.25. At the outset of the chapter, it has been mentioned that major activity taking place in Village Office is the issuance of various certificates. There is a prescribed application form for each certificate which the applicant has to bought from outside and submitted tothe office duly filled. Normally this activity is done with the help of externa! agencies who demand exorbitant rates. The work study team during data collection found many such agencies attached to village offices and Taluk offices misleading and misguiding the common people. Most often these agencies act as middlemen and play cunning tricks on the poor people. If this practice is continued, it will spoil the goodwill of the department. Therefore, the department has to probe for rectification measures. Forms should be provided to the people either free of cost or at a reasonable rate. The officer in the help desk/enquiry counter can assist the people in getting the forms filled by themselves. Hence the work study team recommend

I S

• • • • • • • • • .

• • .

73 that the prescribed application forms for certificates and other purposes should be provided to the people at a reasonable rate.

6.11.26. The Village Officer issues certificates to the people for various purpose.

The purpose will be mentioned specifically mentioned in the certificates.

.

Therefore, a person who get a certificate for producing in the Supply Office requires another one for producing before the Panchayat Office. In fact this is a repetition of the same work resulting additional workload in Village Offices. Some certificates like nativity, residence, legal heir ship etc., have a permanent nature. Such certificates, if issued for onetime can be laminated and kept for lifetime use. The department may probe for some measures in the direction so that the difficulties of the people and the village staff can be reduced. Therefore the work study team recommend that validity of some certificates like nativity, residence, legal heir ship etc. should be made life time. The Revenue Department should consider issuing orders accordingly.

. .

5.11.27. The general staff pattern of village offices

Village Assistants. They are the staff members contributing the whole clerical work. There is also two Village Man in the Village Office. Duties assigned to them are different. They are

• • • • • • • • • • S

0

is one Village Officer two

serving of notices, assisting

village staff for measurement of land and buildings, carrying of letters, reports and messages to higher offices, treasury duty etc. As such, the clerical staff (village officer and village assistants), have to perform duty for 5100 man hours per year (as per work study norms a functionary has to contribute 1700 man hours a year).

5.11.28. If there is an average of 30 certificates are being

issued from a village

office per day, time required for doing the job will be of 5 Man Hours per day amounting to 1350 Man Hours per year. If there are 50 receipts per day (laid tax, building tax etc.), an average of 350 minutes is required for the work per day amounting to 1575 Man Hours in a year. If there are 4

.

'LI Pokkuvaravu cases in an office every day, 3 Man Hours are spent for the purpose amounting to 810 Man Hours in a year. The clerical staff of the village office has to go for field visit every day. An average of one Man Hour can be allotted for field visit per day. Thus total time taken in an year can be calculated as 810 Man Hours. Register Maintenance and record keeping are also another major work in village offices. They have to preserve many valuable records on government land and other properties.

As per the work study norms, a synthetic time of 20 minutes can be allotted to each functionary for the purpose. The total time thus taken will be of 60 minutes per day amounting to 270 man hours annually. As the government carry out general administration through the village offices; the village employees are bound to do a lot of various type of job like .

S S S S

Election, Census, Law and order problems etc. Since these types of works involve extensive field visits it is reasonable to give 10 hours per month to the village staff. The total time taken in a year can be calculated as 120 Man Hours per year. In this way the workload in general of a village Office can be measured as shown in the table below.

Time (hours per day)6.15X31 8.45

.

S

SI. No

1

Total Time (hours per year) 1700X351 00

Item

______________________ Certificates(30 numbers)

5

1350

5.8

1575

S

2 Tax Collection(50 receipts)

S

3

Pokuvaravu(4 cases)

3

810

.

4

Field Visit

3

819

5

Register &Records Keeping

1

270

0.45

121

S

6 GeneralAdministration works Difference in Time Taken

S S

S S

=

5100 —4936

=

Total 164 Man Hours

I 4936 Man Hours

75

A graphical representation of the above commutation is given below

r

tPokuvarau

nCeritificates

UTax

aField Visit

a Register&Records a General Works

C Excess time

I

ÂŁ10

3%

5.11.29. In short, the staff of a normal village office together contributes a total of 4936 Man Hours per year. Actuaily the time required for the three functionaries is 5100 Man Hours per year. So there is a shortage of 164 Man Hours per year which is not at all arrived to the fixed time of 5100 Man Hours in a year.

rL A village office dealing with 30 certificates: 50 tax receipts, 4 Pokkuvaravu cases can function with the existing staff strength. See another situation below

Total

Item

SLNo

Time

(hours/year)

S S 2700

1

Certificates(60 numbers)

2

Tax Collection(67 receipts)

2110

3

Pokuvaravu(4 cases)

810

4

Field Visit

810

5

Register &Records Keeping

270

6

General Administration works

121

=

S S

S

Total

6821 hours

S S S 5.11.30. Here the employees take 1721 Man Hours and this is more than one third of 5100 hours. That is, a functionary spends 573 man hours more.

See the diagram.

S S S S

S

77

El Certificate Tax o Pokuvaravu nFicldVist r Register&Records o General Works

n Overtime Spent

La 91

e

5.11.31. As such, village offices having an average delivery of 60 certificates, 67 land receipts, besides performing other connected works, are justified to function with the existing staff as provided in the work study norms that if the total work load does not exceed one third of 1700 man hours annualiy, there is no additional staff required. The excess work load up to a maximum quantum of one third (up to an annual maximum of 573 man hours fora single functionary) may well be annulled.

5.11.32. Creation of an additional post of Lower Division Clerk(LDC) can be considered in the cases of village offices where the total volume of work exceed 6805 Man Hours per year in each case. That is, village offices having delivery of more than 60 certificates and 70 land receipts can be considered for creation of one additional post of Lower Division Clerk. In this circumstances, the work study team recommend to create one post of Village assistant (LDC-Cadre) in those village offices where each functionary would have to work for more than 573 Man Hours in a year which clearly exceeds the limit of one third of the total man hour, i.e., 1700 Man Hours in a year.

iII A graphical representation of this aspect is given below.

-

U

-

—0--- -- •0

Total man hour for each funcPthinal Time spent

U Series 1 a Series 2

In the recommended village offices total work load of each functionary exceed one third of the total of 1700 Man Hours in a year.

Overtime spent Total work load-i 700 man hours

Over time Spent

5.11.33. In other words, instead of contributing 5100 Man Hours in a year,(as per work study norms) by all the three functionaries are working for 6825 Man

79 Hours a year. That is they together work for 1725 Man Hours additionally in a year. This excess workload is enough for creation of an additional post of LDC/ Village Assistant in the recommended village offices.

Workload € 8,000 €7,000 €6,000 € 5,000 € 4,000

-

• Work

I

€3,000 €2,000 € 1,000 €0 -•--- _____________________ Work load Work Load

5.11.34. According to the position as detailed above there is a situation necessitate for creation of one post of Village Assistant in 140 village offices. In this circumstance the work study team suggests that a post of Village Assistant may be created in the following villages.

Sl.No.

Village Office

Taluk

-

District

Kadakampally

Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram

2

Peroorkada

Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram

3

Uliyazhathura

Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapurarn

4

Kollayil

Neyyattinkara

Thiruvananthapuram

5

Perumpazhuthur

Neyyattinkara

Thiruvananthapuram

6

Chenkal

Neyyattinkara

Thiruvananthapuram

Neyyattinkara

Thiruvananthapuram

1

-

t Parassala

-

Wl Mwt

8

Karode

Neyyattinkara

Thiruvananthapuram

9

Kunnathukal

Neyyattinkara

Thiruvananthapuram

10

Perumkadavila

Neyyattinkara

Thiruvananthapuram

11

Kulathummal

Neyyattinkara

Thiruvananthapuram

12

Ottasekharamang Neyyattinkara alam

Thiruvananthapuram

13

Vilavoorkkal

Neyyattinkara

Thiruvananthapuram

14

Tholikkode

Nedumangadu

15

Veeranakavu

Nedumangadu

Thiruvananthapuram

16

Uzhamalakkal

Nedumangadu

Thiruvananthapuram

17

Aryanad

Nedumangadu

Palode

Nedumangadu

Thiruvananthapuram

19

Pangode

Nedumangadu

Thiruvananthapuram

20

Anadu

Nedumangadu

Thiruvananthapuram

21

Karakulam

Nedumangadu

Thiruvananthapuram

22

Cherunniyoor

Chirayinkeezhu

Thiruvananthapuram

23

Varkala

Chirayinkeezhu

Thiruvananthapuram

24

Chammruthi

Chirayinkeezhu

Thiruvananthapuram

25

Kilimanoor

Chirayinkeezhu

Thiruvananthapuram

26

Alamkode

Chirayinkeezhu

Thiruvananthapuram

27

Thrikkaruva

Kollam

Kollam

28

KilikoIlur

Kollam

Kollam

29

Mangadu

Kollam

Kollam

30

Vadakkevila

Kollam

Kollam

31

Eravipuram

Kollam

Kollam

32

Parippally

Kollam

Kollam

33

Thrikovilvaftom

Kollam

Kollam

34

Mulavana

Kollam

Koltam

35

Kalayapuram

Kottarakkara

Kollam

36

Veliyam

Kottarakkara

Kollam

37

Kummil

Kottarakkara

Kollam

38

Edamulakkal

Pathanapuram

Kollam

18

-

-

-

-

Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram

Pathanapuram J Pathanapuram

39

Yeroor

40

Pattazhi North

41

Chavara

Karunagappally

Kollam

42

Panmana

Karunagappally

Kollam

43

Thevalakkara

Karunagappally

Kollam

44

Vadakkumthala

Karunagappally

Kollam

45

Kallelibhagam

Karunagappally

Kollam

46

Oachira

Karunagappally

Kollam

47

Thodiyoor

Karunagappally

Kollam

48

Kulasekharapura m

Karunagappally

Kollam

49

Thazhava

Karunagappally

Kollam

50

Mynagappally

Kunnathoor

Kollam

51

Sooranadu South

Kunnathoor

Kollam

52

Kulanada

Kozhencherry

Pathanamthitta

53

Vallikkodu

Kozhencherry .

Pathariamthitta

54

Erathu

Adoor

Pathanamthitta

55

Kurampala

Adoor

Pathanamthitta

56__— Kuttappuzha

Thiruvalla

Pathanamthitta

57

Koipuram

Thiruvalla

Pathanamthitta

58

Chittar Sitahode

Ranni

Pathanamthitta

59

Kunnamthanam

Mallappally

Pathanamthitta

60

Krishnapuram

Karthikappally

Alappuzha

61

Cheruthana

Karthikappally

Alappuzha

62

Thrikkunnappuzh a

Karthikappally

Alappuzha

63

Kannamangalam

Mavelikkara

Alappuzha

64

Thamarakkulam

Mavelikkara

Alappuzha

65

Mulakkuzha

Chengannur

Alappuzha

Kuttanad

Alappuzha

Ambalappuazha

Alappuzha

66 67

IThalavady Komalapuram

Kollam Kollam

e

I

68

Thanneermukkam Cherthala South

Alappuzha

69

Pattanakkadu

Cherthala

Alappuzha

70

Kanjikkuzhi

Cherthala

Alappuzha

71

Mararikulam North

Cherthala

Alappuzha

72

Aroor

Cherthala

Alappuzha

73

Ezhupunna

Cherthala

Alappuzha

74

Kodamthuruthu

Cherthala

Alappuzha

75

Chethippuzha

Changanasserry

Kottayam

76

Karukachal

Changanasserry

Kottayam

77

Chirakkadavu

Kanjirappally

Kottayam

78

Erumeli South

Kanjirappally

Kottayam

79

Erumali North

Kanjirappally

Kottayam

80

Panachikkadu

Kottayam

81

Kooroppada

Kottayam

Kottayam

82

Kidangoor

Meenanchil

Kottayam

83

Poovarani

Meenanchil

84

Erattupetta

Meenanchil

Kottayam

85

Mutakkularn

Vaikkom

Kottayam

86

Udumpannoor

Thodupuzha

Idukki

87

Vannappuram

Thodupuzha

Idukki

88

Karunapuram

Udumbanchola

Idukki

89

Eramallur

Kothamangalam

Ernakulam

90

Moolavoor

Muvattupuzha

Ernakulam

91

Enanallur

Muvattupuzha

Ernakulam

92

Raya ma ngalam

Ku n natth u nad u

Em aku lam

93

Vengola

Kunnatthunadu

Ernakulam

94

Parakkadavu

Aluva

95

Mattoor

Aluva

Ernakulam

96

Poonithura

Kanayannur

Ernakulam

-

-

-

Kottayam

Kottayam

Ernakulam

97

C hera nail ur

Ka naya nn u r

98

Kumbalam

Erna kula m

Kanayannur

99

Maradu

Ernakujam

Kanayannur

100

Ernakulam

Vazhakkaja

Kanayannur

101

Ernakulam

Thrikkakkara North

Kanayannur

Ernakulam

102

Fort Kochj

Kochj

103

Ernaku lam

Rameswaram

Kochj

104

Ernakulam

Varappuzha

Paravoor

105

Ernakulam

Vadakkekkara

jParavoor

106

Karumapoor

Ernakulam

Paravoor

107

Eriyadu

Ernakulam

Kodungaflur

108

Thrissur

Karaiam

Mukundapuram

109

Thrissur

Kodakara

Mukundapuram

110

Thrissur

Guruvayoor.

Iringapram

Chavakkadu

Thrissur

111

MullasserjAnnakkara

Chavakkadu

Thrissur

112 113

Kizhakkancherj(J Aiathur Pirayiri Palakkad

114

Neliayar

Ottappalam

115

Paiakkad

Pattithara

Ottappalam

116

Palakkad

Marancheri

Ponnani

117

Mankada

Malappuram

Perinthalmanna

118

Payyanad

Malappuram

Eranad

119

Edavanna

Malappuram

Eranad

120

Urgattari

Malappuram

Eranad

121

Chungathara

Malappuram

Nilambur

122

Thiruvaly

Malappuram

Nilambur

123

Kadalundy

Malappuram

Kozhikkode

124

Kozhikkocj

Panniyankara

Kozhikkode

125

Kozhjkkode

Puthiyangady

Kozhikkode

126

Elathur

Kozhikkocje

KozhikjรงQ

Kozhjkkode

Paiakkad Paiakkacj

ms 127

Chelannur

Kozhikkode

Kozhikkode

128

Mavoor

Kozhikkode

Kozhikkode

129

Peruvayal

Kozhikkode

Kozhikkode

130

Nanmanda

Kozhikkode

Kozhikkode

131

Payyoli

Koyllandy

Kozhikkode

132

Balussery

Koyilandy

Kozhikkode

133

Nadakkuthazha

Vadakara

Kozhikkode

134

Nenmeni

Suithan Bethery

Wayanad

135

Thomattuchal

Suithan Bethery

Wayanad

136

Kuppady

Suithan Bethery

137

Kathiroor

Thalasserry

Kannur

138

Anjarakkandy

Kannur

Kannur

139

Kanhangad

Hosdurg

Kasargode

140

Kudlu(G.V.)

Kasargode

Kasargode

/

-

Wayanad

85

• Chapter- 6

•

A Report on Office Inspection and Infrastructure Facilities

•

6.1.1. The P&ARD work study team also conducted inspection in Village Offices

•

they visited as part of the work study. The inspection was conducted in

•

tandem with the norms laid down in the Circular No.16172/AR-

•

10/2009/P&ARD dated 10.05.2010. During the inspection, the P&ARD team could found certain irregularities being practiced in office procedures by the village staff. When interacted with the staff it was learnt that most of the staff members are ignorant of the Manual and Rules of the department. Many of them do not know how to prepare, update and maintain basic records and other registers. But at the bright side, people visited the village offices at the time of inspection were seen satisfied with the village employees. The work study team could found the following lapses.

Attendance and Punctuality of the staff: 6.2.1. Attendance Register is maintained in all the village offices visited by the team. Casual Leave and other Leave were properly entered in registers.

Most of the employees were seen presented though there were few exceptions. In some cases though the employees were present, they hadn't marked attendance in registers. In most of the village offices, entries in the casual leave registers were not updated. In majority of the village offices, page certificate , page number, index etc were not properly entered in the attendance register.

6.2.2. Movement Registers are maintained in all village offices visited by the team. But it is not maintained in the prescribed format .Note books and blank registers for other purposes are seen used as Movement Registers

S S S

in some of the village offices. Uniformity in maintaining Registers is an unavoidable factor in an Organization/Department and uniformity of

S

registers is a sign of good governance and administration. A modal of Movement Register that can be adopted to the village offices is recommended below.

Movement

S

•

of

Village

under

Taluk

for

month )-(yj) Date

S S

Register

Time

Name of Employee

Designatiøn

From To

Purpose of

field

Visit

The above recommended Movement Register contain at least 300 pages in total and 5 distinctive rows and 6 columns in each page.

S 6.2.3. It was also found that entries in the Movement Register maintained in

S S S

• • • • • •

majority of the village offices are not legible. Arrival time is not entered in majority of the movement register. Some village staff is supposed to be misused the Movement Register. They go out of the office for personal purpose in the disguise of official field visit. The team recommend that the supervisory Officers should take necessary precautionary methods to prevent the misuse of Movement Register. This being the situation, the work study team recommends that Printed Movement register contain 300 pages and with 5 distinctive rows and 6 columns as recommended above format be supplied to the Village Offices at the beginning of each financial year in order to ensure uniformity of Movement Register. The Village officer and the Deputy Tahsildar concerned may take necessary steps to ensure attendance and punctuality in the village office. It is the duty of the Village Officer to

S S S S S

87

•

ensure that the field visit of the employee is solely for the official •

purpose.

.,

General Working Atmosphere and Efficiency of the Office:

•

.

6.3.1. Unlike other government offices, the village offices are often seen with

•

atmosphere and sufficient infrastructure. Being the bottom level office,

•

these offices have considerable quantum of workload. Even though the

•

situation is bleak, the applications received per day are dealt on the same

rush of visitors. But, village offices have not got a good working

• • • • • •

day. The want of staff and infrastructure hampers the smooth functioning of the offices. The employees are efficient in discharging their duties. The attitude of the staff towards the public has to be changed. The employee may be given some sort of behavioral training in dealing with the customers. During the time of inspection, the

work study team has got

some allegations of misbehavior from the part of some village staff towards the public.. An identity card bearing name, photo and designation be issued

to each village employee and make it

compulsory to wear while on duty. This may help the public to lodge complaint against the erring officers. A complaint box may be installed in all village offices and the key of the box should be kept in the

• • • • • • • • • • •

custody of Tahasildar or the person authorized by him

.

The

Tahasildar or the authorised officer should open the box once in every 3 months and take action on the complaint, if necessary.

Trainng 6.4.1. Lack of in-service training to the staff is a major problem faced by the

.

Village Offices. A new entrant to village service is totally unfamiliar even with the, words frequently used in a Village Office like Jamabandi,

a

• • • • • • • • • • • •

88 Thandapperu, Pokkuvaravu etc. The Village Officer and other staff in a village office may riot be able to give necessary guidance and help to a new staff who is recruited to the village office, because of heavy workload and routine interaction with the public. Proper induction training will only equip him to perform duties perfectly and easily.

6.4.2. The data collected from village offices show that majority Offices in the state have untrained staff.

of the Village

Lack of proper training affects

not only the performance of staff but also normal functioning of the office Hence, every clerical staff should be given an Induction Training (Course having duration of at least three weeks time) before appointment to the village office. Those who already work in the village offices may also be included in the training programme. Village Field Assistants, Village

40 40

Assistants/Special Village Officers and Village Officers should have separate training modules. Some personality development courses may also be included in the schedule The Village Officer will ensure proper training to his staff (VFAs and VA5/SVO5). The Tahsildar of each Taluk

4111

• • • • • • • • • • • • S S S S 0

will have to ensure that the Village Officers under his control have attended the training course.

Proper training at each level will enable the

staff to render maximum service with minimum effort. Hence, the study team recommends that proper Induction training should be given to Village Field Assistants, Village Assistants/Special Village Officers and Village Officers at each level without fail. The Department may explore the possibilities of utilizing the service of Institute of Management in Government in this regard.

Maintenance of Registers 6.5.1. There are mainly two types of registers in village offices.

I.

Permanent Registers (4 registers including supplementary registers)

S 89

• •

II. Temporary. Registers (36 Registers) and Other Registers such as Application Register, RTI Act Register(10 registers)

•

6.5.2. Thus a Village Officer is obliged to maintain 50 registers in his office. Many of them are very important registers. All these registers were subjected to

S S

inspection by the work study team. Following are the main findings.

6.5.3. Most of the Permanent and Temporary registers are in dilapidated condition. Most of them are decades old; dating back to British rule. The Revenue Department provides little money for the upkeep of important

.

registers in village offices. In these circumstances, village employees are forced to spend a portion of their wage to this purpose or they are

S

compelled to seek the good will of some wealthy persons who visit the office for their needs. Such a situation certainly leads to corruption and

S

favoritism in village offices.

6.5.4. Nevertheless, department,

as these registers are of great importance to the some village officers take

strain for getting

all these

registers rebounded. In many village offices these important registers are not even in a usable condition. Fortunately some registers prepared during

•

the British rule still survive time. The paper quality of these registers are

S

very poor and hence they started decay. The first sign of this is that the

S S

paper becomes yellow, then brown, and increasingly brittle. Moreover, sufficient registers are not provided to the village offices.

This situation

5 5

compels employees to purchase ordinary notebooks and convert them

•

work study team suggest that registers having good quality paper be

into registers which shortens the life span of

registers. Therefore the

supplied to every village office sufficiently at the beginning of each calendar year. Additional registers should also be allotted to the village office from the Taluk office as and when needed by the village offices.

S S S S S S

I S

• • • • • • • • S • • •

.

90 6.5.5. When registers are subjected to inspection, it was seen that these are not

.

maintained properly. Name .of clerk, name of register, volume, page certificate, carry over certificate etc... are not seen made

in most of the

registers. The higher officers may look into the matter personally and persuade subordinate officers to get the registers maintained

properly

and inspected regularly.

Citizen Charter 6.6.1. Almost all village offices display Citizen Charter in front of the office. Most often, the Citizen charter displayed in the offices are incomplete.

There

are omissions of some important information like duration of time taken for a particular activity or service and documents to be attached along with applications/petitions etc. The guidelines in the Citizen charter could

not

be complied quite often due to pressure from the public. The public is not

.

ready to wait for quite sometime as they want to fulfill

needs within the

shortest time possible. This attitude of the public often make the village staff under pressure and they are compelled

• • • • • • • • •

to satisfy the demand

of

public without adequate enquiry. In this circumstance the work study team suggest that the guidelines in the Citizen Charter should strictly be adhered to and the service delivered in line with the first come first served basis.

Right to Information Act-2005 -

6.7.1. Boards displaying name and telephone number of State Public Information Officers and Appellate Authority etc. dealing with the Right to Information Act 2005 have been displayed in all the offices. But in majority of the cases details displayed are incomplete and are not updated. In some offices details are displayed in printed papers and these are very difficult to be noticed. Hence the work team suggest that details of Public Information Officers should be displayed in board legibly.

•

S S

S 91 S

Steps for Anti-Corruption 6.8.1. Board having name of Vigilance Officers with telephone number are displayed in majority of the village offices. Yet, the team happened to be heard some complaints of bribery in a few village offices. The board displaying the details of Vigilance officers is not legible and very difficult to be located. Therefore the work study team suggests that a board displaying the details of Vigilance Officers with their telephone numbers in legible letters be prepared and displayed in front of all village offices. The information on the board should be updated whenever necessary.

Village Office Building 6.9.1. The team visited several village offices across the state as part of the work study. The Village office buildings can easily be classified in to 3 types Village offices constructed by PWD/ Panchayath/ Municipality I

•

Corporation •

Village offices constructed by Nirmithi Kendhra

•

Village office in rented buildings.

•

Picture of a Village Office

.--.

S S S S

0

• -

-- *ff-

- - •.

1

--

-:.-., - ___ __

r- --•

- _____

11

92

•

6.9.2. The picture of a village office above speak volumes on its harrowing •

condition. A considerable number of the village offices have a dismal and

•

loomy look. These offices reflect an example of sheer negligence from

•

the part of the government. Through this grass root level offices, people

•

watch the government and evaluate its performance. The appearance of

• • • •

some of the Village Office buildings is that it is about to fall on the ground at any time. Whenever in rainy season, the roof are leaking and the valuable registers and records will get wet.

This may cause damage to

the building as well as important documents. To make matters worse, the doors and windows of some of the offices are in pathetic condition which give least protection to the buildings. So there is a possibility of anti-social elements getting access into the village offices and stealing or damaging documents of importance.

•.

• ..

• • • • • • •

Space Management 6.10.1. 99% of village office buildings are below 700 sq.ft and this is hardly enough for an office to function smoothly. The rooms are congested and narrow that too without proper ventilation. The associated Approved Code of Practice and Guidance states:

'Office building should have enough free space to allow people to get to and from workstations and to move within the room, with ease. The number of people who may work in any particular room at any one time

-

will depend not only on the size of the room, but on the space taken up by furniture,

fittings,

equipment,

on

and

S S S

layout

of

the

room.

Workrooms, Every room where persons work shall have sufficient floor area, height and unoccupied space for purposes of health, safety and welfare".

• • •

the

. .

• • • • • • • •

93 6.10.2. The space assigned per person is one of many factors that may affect an employee's safety and sense of well-being at work, productivity, For office work, space requirements are listed in terms of the (a) footprint and (b) the average floor area per occupant.

Footprint: A value of 5 for the footprint

-

-

7 square metres is recommended as a minimum

the area available for,a person's workstation, chair, the

need for• movement, and freedom from intrusion from others.

Average floor area per occupant: An absolute minimum is 12 square

•

meters per person

-

and this assumes ideal circumstances in all other

aspects. Some Guidelines indicate a larger space may be acceptable in provincial locations.

• • • • • •

6.10.3. Although the space requirement mentioned in the associated Approved Code of Practice and Guidance is not practical as far as village offices are concerned, there should be a rethinking about the overall area of the building and its space management.

6.10.4. All the village office buildings should have at least 1000 sq.ft. plinth area.

Newly constructing buildings should be designed in such a way that these offices have 1000 sq.ft. In the case of old and narrow buildings, extensions may be added to create sufficient space. The layout of the offices should be revised so as to create sufficient space for record room,

• • • • • • • • •

visitor's area, office of the village officer and work area. Therefore, the work study team suggest that all newly constructing buildings should have at least 1000 sq.ft of plinth area which will surely make working in village offices an enjoyable experience. In the case of buildings which have below 750 sq.ft of plinth area, extension may

be done for additional space for work.

.

S

• •

94

Internal Layout 6.10.5. The internal layout of each village office

may be designed in such a way

that there should be sufficient space to accommodate tables and sufficient

• • S • • • •

space for employees to move around freely. Furniture should be arranged systematically so that entry and exit of visitors would become more comfortable.

Sufficient fans and lights should be installed to make

working condition stress free and enjoyable.

Maintenance 6.10.6. At times some sort of periodic maintenance is done in the case of village offices functioning in PWD/Panchayath/Municipality/Corporation buildings that too after repeated requests. But, unfortunately in the case of village office buildings constructed by Nirmithi Kendra, maintenance are yet to be carried out. Often, the maintenance is limited to whitewashing or some patch work. Some PWD buildings become leaky when it rains and this cause the roof ceiling become loose and collapse. In addition to this, one further point to mention is the steel network inside the concrete roof slab will get corroded in the long run and collapse.

• • • •

Moreover, the damp and

wet wall may become a trigger to electric hazard and this will be life threatening and it will also damage computer or other electric appliances connected to the grid. As this is a matter of utmost concern the work study team recommend that secondary roofing be installed in all village office buildings where leakage is a major problem.6.10.7. The work study team visited some village offices that have tiled roof.

• • • • • • • S

S

Majority

of them are very old buildings. It was seen that adequate

maintenance was not carried out in most cases. The wooden structure has been eaten by Termites. Moreover, the menace of rats and other insects is unbearable. Periodical application of anti-termite agent and installation of false ceiling can solve these problems to a great extent. Therefore the

-

• • • • • • •

95 work study team suggests that false ceiling should be installed in those village offices with tiled roof and the wooden structure should periodically be applied with anti-termite agent.

6.10.8. A few village offices are not fortified with strong doors and windows. The hinges of doors and windows are loose or corroded which leave a chance to an intruder to enter into the Village Office freely and easily and valuables may be stolen from the office.

• • • •

6.10.9. Majority of the Village Office buildings reflect a grim and dismal look for they have not been painted for many years. During monsoon season the building get wet and moss began to grow there on the walls of the building leavir.g

an ugly look.

Dust accumulation on the walls absorb moisture

and encourages algae formation and thereby reduce the aesthetic value of the building. To solve this problem the building should be painted with

.

high quality paint and this will prevent accumulation of

dust and algae

formation on the wall thereby beauty of the building can be retained year after year. Therefore the work study team recommend painting all

• •

village offices once in 3 years with

high quality, anti4ungal paint

instead of whitewashing.

6.10.10. The electrical wiring in some of the village offices are not in proper condition. The switches and the power outlets are not working properly.

Sealed channel could be preferred rather than open wiring which provide more safety. No electric safety mechanism is seen installed in the village

• • • • • • • • •

offices. A good Circuit breaker should therefore be installed in all village offices.

NM

''•

'

1

S S S S S

6.10.11. At present old power consuming incandescent bulbs and fans are used in majority of the village offices. All these need immediate replacement in order to save on electricity charge and set standards on power saving front.

S S S 6.10.12. All government offices including village offices should function as role models in power saving front especially in a situation in which our state is

S

being faced with acute power shortage. In this circumstance, the work study team recommends the following

S

Use sealed channels for electric wiring

S

Install Circuit Breaker in all village offices Old incandescent bulbs and tube lights should be replaced with C FLs

S

Old power consuming fans should be replaced with energy star

S S S S S S S

rated fans V.

Display a board in all village offices describing the ways of power saving

vi.

. Ensure all the electric appliances bought for the village offices are

•1

97 C

energy star rated.

Toilet Facility/Wash Basin 6.10.13. Clean and usable toilets and wash basin be ensured in all village offices as a basic requirement.Unfortunately majority of the village offices have •

provided filthy toilets in which a man of hygienic sense may dither to enter.

•

Availability of water should be ensured through water connection and rain

•

water harvesting. Lack of usable toilets create problems mainly for women

•

and physically handicapped employees. Water from Rain water can solve

•

the running water problem to a great extent. The work study team thinks

•

that no separate toilet is necessary for the visitors. The same toilet used

•

by the staff can also be used by the customers. At present a few village office is provided with a wash basin. The employees find it difficult to wash their hand after lunch without wash basin. Moreover, a wash basin is ideal in an office in many ways. In this circumstances, the work study team recommend to ensure clean.and usable toilet and wash basin as a basic requirement. Sufficient water availability be ensured through water connection and rain water harvesting.

Compound Wall 6.10.14. In the circumstances existed in majority of the village offices suggest that every village office should ensure compound wall round the entire premise in order to prevent encroachment. The compound wall should be of at least 1.60 meters in height. A strong compound wall guards the office against trespassers, anti-social elements and stray animals. Some antisocial people even throw off house hold waste onto the compound of village office from passing vehicles. Above all, a mere compound wall does not serve the purpose for which it was built. It should have at ast 1.60 meters in height and should have a good gate too. Therefore the work study team recommend that a compound wall of at least 1.60

meters in height with a good gate should be constructed for those village offices without compound wall.

Furniture in Village Offices 6.10.15. Furniture has always been a necessity for an office. With good ambience in the office, employees feel good to work even under pressure. Furniture always plays a major role in getting your work done. Proper furniture gives a sense of class and dignity. Office furniture has changed with changing work style. It aims to save on space, while optimizing on productivity and playing it easy on paper, which works in-line with the modern work mantra.

6.10.16. On the contrarary, all village offices in Kerala are sported with outdated, old and dilapidated piece of furniture often giving a feeling of working in an office during medieval period. All existing piece of furniture are not ergonomically in nature and these do not help the employees work for a long time comfortably in any way. This furniture was originally designed for meeting the needs of bygone era. Moreover, the old furniture and its arrangement in no way motivate the employees and do not create an ambiance of professionalism and success either.

6.10.17. Even with these old pieces of furniture all village office face another grim reality; lack of sufficient furniture. All most all village offices in Kerala do not have sufficient furniture to function properly. They do not have sufficient storage facility, enough seating arrangements and proper writing desks. All these factors contribute to below par performance of village offices. So as to bring the village offices to the forefront there is a need to build an atmosphere of modernity in village offices. Therefore, the work study team recommends replacing all existing old and outdated furniture with modern, ergonomically built pieces of furniture.

Excellent furniture is not only able to make a work space look stylish but can also give it an ambiance of professionalism and success.

-j I.

t.

99 6.10.18. A suggestion about new piece of office furniture which could be accepted by the Revenue Department is given below

Modular Office Furniture

Merits of Modular Office Furniture .

Modular office furniture is famous for its incredible flexibility

.

Modular Office Furniture pieces can be easily assembled, dismantled, repaired and re-configured The set up of the office can be altered anytime if wantedHighly

100 portable and light weight •

With modular office furniture it becomes distinctly possible to design the shapes and styles which make is look very attractive.

•

For the visitors, the attractive interiors of the office give it a very professional look.

•

For the employees, the attractive interiors of the office could be a motivating factor.

The ergonomical design of the furniture ensures that the employees are not tired and do not get their body aches while working long hours.

6.10.19. An office does not have to take up a lot of space. A modular office system can help maximize any area's space and affordably accommodate the equipment and supplies needed to work. Added wheeis on the furniture make it easier to move work spaces around when rearranging or redecorating.

Ergonomics and Space o

The office desk should provide clearance for legs; standard desk heights of 29 to 30 inches from the floor are sufficient for most employees.

•

Sitting behind the desk, there should optimally be at least threeand-a half feet of space. A minimum of three feet of space should also be available in-between the desk and another piece of office furniture and in front of the desk if you use a guest/client chair.

• For computer-users, keyboards need to be placed at a comfortable height. Keyboards placed on traditional desks may be at too high a height and may result in significant discomfort or muscle strain for the user. Computer desks should either be equipped with a

101 keyboard platform, or legs that can be adjusted. Be sure that any keyboard platform is large enough to hold a mouse.

•

Desktop equipment and materials should be within easy and comfortable reach, and should have sufficient space so as not to overload the desktop.

•

Laminate the desk surface for that will better withstand daily use and abuse

•

As fsr as office chair is concerned any chair bought for the office should be ergonomically and adjustable in height and have wheels for easy movement.

•

The furniture shall be designed as per the specific needs of each category of employees so that they do not find it inconvenient to use it.

•

Every room where persons work shall have sufficient floor area, height and unoccupied space for purposes of health, safety and welfare.

•

An office lacks functionality without sufficient work space and storage. Supplies should be in easy reach within the working environment.

6.10.20. Workrooms should have enough free space to allow people to get to and from workstations and to move within the room, with ease. The number of people who may work in any particular room at any one time will depend not only on the size of the room, but on the space taken up by furniture, fittings, equipment, and on the layout of the room.

102 Running Water/Drinking Water 6.10.21. 90% percent of the village offices in the state face acute running water shortage. The remaining village offices have got either Wells or Rain Water Storage. The solution lies in setting up of Rain Water Harvesting System in all village offices where running water facility is not available.

This system can ensure availability of water for 6 to 7 months in a year.

6.10.22. Hence the work study team suggest that the Revenue Department should prepare an action plan for equipping the existing village offices and newly constructing buildings with Rainwater harvesting facility and engage local bodies in the maintenance of the system.

'1 .

:

. -

a ik

... . ht'Sth

Drinking Water 6.10.23. Sometimes the visitors, elderly and disabled people among them at the village office will have to wait for a long time to get their need fulfilled. In such occasions visitors will have to be provided with drinking water. water from the rain water storage could not be trusted. In the circumstances, water connection from the KWA may be subscribed to and an over head

103 tank may also be installed. This can ensure clean and safe drinking water in the village offices throughout the year.

Seating facility for visitors 6.10.24. The Village offices are visited by a varied cross-section of the public at all times. Hence there must be a defined waiting area capable of giving comfort to the public. All visitors to the office should be properly assisted.

Visitors should feel welcome and should be treated with respect. In order to give a face lift to village offices the following things should be done:

6.10.25. When people need to visit the village offices, their first impression is formed by the waiting room. Therefore the work study team suggest that there must be a Waiting room/area having 7 to 10 seating and a table in every village office.

Front Office 6.10.26. A p!rson coming to village office for the first time gets confused about to whom he should approach for getting his needs done. At present there is no Front Office facility in Village Offices to help the public. Now a days many government offices have set up a Front Office system. It will surely help the public from solving their doubts such as to whom should they approach to, what type of services are available from the office, what are the formalities to be followed etc.. A useful and effective Front Office System should be introduced at every village office. The service of Village Field Assistants, Village Assistants/Special Village Officers can be utilized for the purpose. Unnecessary rush inside the village offices can be avoided through this method and effective service delivery can be ensured through the Front Office. A recommended layout of the Front Office that

104 can be adopted in village Offices is seen below.

Processing

Front Office

cz(ssuing Certificatesl

B

Assista~nt Viflage

VA/VFA ft

After proce ssing &for verific

9

- Village Officer

p

Verification [office recordsl

6.9.27. The above proposed Front Office be computerized and computergenerated receipt be issued to the applicant. The certificate issued or the application rejected may also be entered in the computer system so as to verify whether an applicant has received any certificate for the same has been rejected earlier.

105

106 Chapter- 7

Records Management in Village Offices - An Overview Introduction 7.1.1. Records are a basic tool of government administration. Records provide information for planning and decision making, form the foundation for government accountability, and are often subjected to specific legal requirements. Records are essential for the effective and efficient administration, but if not properly managed, that can be a liability,.

Records - Definition: 7.1.2. A Record' can be defined as information generated in the course of an organisation's official transactions and which is documented to act as a source of reference and a tool by which an organisation is governed. The records themselves form a part of or provide evidence of such transactions.

Records management 7.1.3. Records management is the field of management responsible for the systematic control of the creation, maintenance, use and disposition of records", (NARA,2003). Records management has four distinctive features: • Records Creation • Records Retention and Disposition • Records Storage and Maintenance

107 . Records Access and Retrieval

Record Keeping - A Necessity: 7.1.4. Record keeping is a basic requirement of public administration. Everyone who work in an organization becomes part and parcel of records. Without records there can be no rule, law and accountability. Public servants must have information to carry out their work and records represent a crucial source of information. Records are vital to virtually every aspect of the governance process. Access to information available in records help to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of the public service.

Records Room - Current Reality 7.1.5. Majority of the village offices in the state have congested record room without proper ventilation and light. The infrastructure installed for record keeping is age old and the racks need replacement. Currently ventilation is poor and there is immense dust which has accumulated on the records.

Open style wooden and steel racks are being used to keep records.

During Monsoon there is a possibility of water leakage in the records room causing records getting wet and spoiled.

- • .2 WIR

7.1.6. The above picture convey the present reality, more than words. This is absolutely true in the case of record rooms in village offices. The present condition of the record room is highly unhygienic and records are accumulated in bundles leaving the possibility of rats and even venomous snakes making their home..

7.1.7. 95% percent of record rooms in village offices are congested and without enough room to accommodate daily producing records. Moreover, these rooms are devoid of proper ventilation and light. In this backdrop the work study team recommend that all newly constructing village offices should have at least 14x14 Square Feet Record Room with proper ventilation and light. Besides, a powerful Vacuum Cleaner may be kept in each Taluk Office and it can also be used to vacuum the dust periodically in every village record room of every village office under its jurisdiction.

Maintenance of Records - A Grim Picture: 7.1.8. Important records are being dumped in all corners of the record room without any classification and arrangement. They are not kept in racks.

Most of the records have been wrapped in bundles of cloth and are dumped in shelves for years. Confiscated properties are also being dumped in record rooms to make the situation worse.

7.1.9. Record registers are not seen maintained in village offices as a result it is difficult to locate record when in need. Indexing or classification of records

• • • • • • • • • • • •

109 are not done. The Village Officer confessed that it take nOrmally

2 to 4

hours for retrieving a particular record of importance. Needless to say that it is difficult to believe that even a record of the previous can be retrieved after searching a full day 7.1.10. There is an extreme reluctance to destroy records, even after they ceased to have any value to the village office. Due to the lack of rules and guidelines in terms of what should be kept and for how long, staff are reluctant to authorize destruction.

Over time, record rooms became

severely congested with older records. The condition of the record management in Village Offices need urgent revamping keeping in mind present condition of the record rooms unless the condition may deteriorate further. Therefore, the work study team recommend that the Revenue Department should take a concerted effort to improve the record room

and systematic upkeeping of records should be ensured in

village offices.

• • •

7.1.11. The process of retrieving registers should become quite efficient and quick and record registers should be maintained in an orderly fashion.

There

should be a consensus among the Revenue officials that it would be helpful to have some record retention schedules/guidelines which can help in classifying the files better. Unnecessary wrong classification of files leads to a lot of paper work and wastage of precious storage space. There

• • • • •

is a possibility that the categorization work will be done subjectively by the concerned administrative officer in the absence of specific record retention schedules.

Hence, the work study team suggests that the existing

Village Manual should be revised by inserting record retention schedules/guidelines

ensuring classification and destruction of

outdated records.

7.1.12. The staff had limited training or experience in record keeping work. Lack of

• • • • •

proper training is the main reason behind poor management and

S 110 S

systematic upkeeping of records in village offices. In these circumstances, the work study team recommends that the village staff should be

S S S S S S

imparted proper training on Record Keeping.

Active records 7.1.13. Records that are in active use generally need to be stored where they are readily accessible to their creators and users. For this reason they will usually be stored near to work areas. Records should not be left to pile up on the floor around people's desks. Therefore the work study team suggests purchasing small steel cabinets with door to keep Active records intact Records should be kept away from direct sunlight to

S

minimise fading.

S S S

Inactive records 7.1.14. Records no longer needed for current work become inactive and are generally moyed out of work areas into storage. Inactive records need to be stored in record rooms. In this way the office can be kept clutter free and neat. For inactive records storage areas, consider: The value of the records you will be storing in the area. Records of

S S

archival value

should be stored in an environment where the

temperature and humidity is controlled.

Identification of archival

records at an early stage may enable you to consider other

options,

.

such as storing them separately, or transferring them to an archive.

S S S S S S

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•

How long you will be storing the records:

•

How much access people will need to the records:

o

The suitability of the building for st9ring records

•

The stability of the storage area environment

•

. Exposure to internal hazards The building maintenance programme

111

Shelving 7.1.15. Suitable shelving and packaging enhance safe access to records. Keeping records on floor or on concrete racks would spoil the records. In this circumstance the work study team recommends that all existing wooden racks and corroded steel stands should be replaced by anti corrosive steel shelves having wheels and doors to protect the records from accumulating termites and other pests.

Shelving Equipment: 7.1.16. .Records may be stored on shelves or racks, or in cabinets or drawers.

Other storage equipment may range from stools and ladders. Appropriate shelving and equipment should be taken into account.

•

Made of durable, non-combustible coated metal

•

The Shelf should be wide enough to accommodate records of Large format items like maps and plans of archival value etc.

•

The shelving layout should minimize the risk of damage to the records

•

Air should be circulated around the shelves

•

The records should be away from floors, external walls, and ceiling lights.

112 (The shelves enable the records to be stored safely and also enable better space management.)

1

(A separate area for processing records)

Environmental Control 7:1.17. All records should be stored in areas that are cleaned regularly and are not subject to extremes of temperature and humidity. Dirty, dusty records deteriorate more rapidly and deter staff from accessing them.

Filing System 7.1.18. For any office to run efficiently a well organised filing arrangement is a must. Regardless of the filing system chosen one must know exactly where the files are located when they are needed. The Public Health Works Orientation Manual for Public Health Leaders of Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services discusses certain key filing procedures that can be followed for effective file management. These are discussed below: Avoid unnecessary filing Arrange folders, guides and labels correctly —Guides serve as 'sign posts' to help speed up the filing and finding operation.

Receiving and preparing papers for filing.

• • • •

113 4. Filing loose vs. fastening.

5. Use Cross references where appropriate 6. Safeguards are a must while filing confidential records.

(Source:-Records Management Guide— A. Vijay Krishna)

Classification of Records

• • • • • S

• •

7.1.19. A radically new approach to classification can be adopted in a record room. The entire Village records can be brought into 7 categories.

Basic Land Records Accounts Registers Election Work Records Applications Tax, Recovery Records .6. Records related to litigation

S

40

• • • 49

7. Records related to General Administration 7.1.20. Classifying the record room based on the above 7 categories will radically change the way records are being kept in record rooms. It will also greatly simplify the process of records management. It is very important to note that one must never have a category with the title "miscellaneous" records.

No file should be classified as miscellaneous as there is every scope that such as category if prone to misuse and over a time due to negligence there is a danger that every record is put in the miscellaneous category.

S S S S S S

114 7.1.21. A records survey is a complete inventory of an agency's records management. Survey of record is an essential step for records management. After completing a records survey, agencies usually discover that many records can be destroyed or moved to inactive storage. Empirical studies of record surveys have shown that approximately 30% of the total volume of records can be destroyed, 30% can be moved to inactive storage and the balance can be retained as active files. (The Kansas State Records Management).

S S S S

7.1.22. There is a common misconception among government officials that computerizing records- or microfilming them will solve the problem of records management. However this is far from the truth. Simply computerizing or microfilming existing records without carrying out a records survey or developing retention schedules will only ensure that a

S

lot of the existing unnecessary records will be retained in an electronic format. This will result in a lot of exsting paper garbage being transformed

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- into electronic garbage. As the process of microfilming or computerisation is expensive it is very important to have a successful operating records

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management program in place before thinking about digitizing records.

One must also consider the various alternatives available to store records along with carrying out a complete cost benefit analysis before embarking upon the process of digitalizing records. Therefore, the work study team

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strongly recommend conducting a Record Survey in all village offices in order to set up an efficient Record Management System in Village Offices.

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115

Chapter- 8

Computerization of Village Offices .1.1. The modern age is witnessing a rapid growth in information technology.

Every sphere of modern age does not go untouched by information technology. Government of Kerala have determined in principle to make available the benefits of IT to the common people. In order to achieve this •

end progressive steps being taken at a great speed. Computerisation of

•

PSC, FRIENDS single window system and IDEA File tracking system are

•

all a noble step in this direction. In line with this IT policy, computers were

•

also inttoduced invillage offices years back.

8.1.2. Unfortunately, introduction of computers in the village offices did not actually serve the purpose for which it has been introduced. A computer, a printer and a UPS (provided only to some offices) were provided to village offices. There is no use with a computer if it is not accompanied by printer and UPS. To make situation worse, the staff in village offices has not been given sufficient training on computer operation. In this backdrop the system was thrown in to a corner of the office where it has been lying with dust accumulated over periods.

*

116 Annual maintenance Contract-AMC: 8.1.3. Another problem looming large over the village office is the lack of Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC). Without UPS, the system is more prone to

.

•• • • • • • *

crash. Once the system is crashed there would be no attempts from the part of Revenue authorities to repair the system or renew the existing AMC. It is seen that the agency responsible for executing AMC does not show any interest to comply with the provisions in the contract. It is said that the government indebted to thousands of rupees to the agencies who execute AMC. The work study team thinks that if the AMC is entrusted with a government agency, maintenance of computer system will not be a problem at all. KELTRON may be entrusted with the task of maintenance of computer systems in all village offices. A team of computer technicians from KELTRON may be stationed permanently at each District head quarters so that the service of the team may be utitised by the Revenue Department. Therefore the work study team suggests that all village offices shoutd be provided with sufficient number of computers together with printers and the maintenance of the same shoutd be

• **

entrusted with KELTRON.

Computer Training: 8.1.4. A vast majority of existing vitlage employees except a few newly appointed ones are ignorant of computer operations. The majority has not been provided with training on computer operations. Therefore the work study team suggest that all Village Officers ,Special Village OfficersNillage Assistants

should

be

given

sufficient

operations.

S

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• 0.

.

training

in

computer

1719 S 0 117

0 0 0 S S S S S S S S S

Open Source Software: 8.1.5. Our government is promoting Open Source Software as part of its IT Policy. But the work study team happened to see Windows software, a Propriety Software, is running in several computers in village offices. This is not proper. The Revenue Department should go hand in hand with the IT policy of our government.

AMM

C.

00

S S S S S S 0

a

8.1.6. Besides, these Propriety Soft wares like Windows are verj costly and

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more prone to VIRUS and Sperm attack whereas Open Source Software

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like UBUNTU(a Linux flavour) is free from such drawbacks. Therefore the work study team recommends promoting Open Source Softwares in all village offices as a Government policy.

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1/h S S 118 S S

Computer Hardware: 8.1.7. Thefield of Information Technology is fast progressing with old technology • being replaced by the latest ones. But it seems that the Revenue Department is still in dark about the latest trends in technical field. Out

S S S S S S S S S

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• dated, power hungry CRT monitors are still being used in most of the village offices. This not only consume more power but also emit more radiation causing stress and strain to eyes.

LCD monitor Vs CRT monitor LCD

CRT

Slim

Bulky

Full or very close

Usually 0.9 inches or less than actual size

Radiation

Little or none

More Radiation

Weight

Light

Heavy

Power Requireme its

Low Power requirement

250% or more power

Glare

No Glare

Reduced Glare

Burn-In

None

Suffers from burn-in problem

-

Slim Factor Viewable

S(

reen

8.1.8. From the above table it could be seen that LCD/TFT monitor is the best.

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S S S S S S S

Therefore the work study team suggest that all existing CRT monitors should replaced by LCDITFT monitors.

Fl

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119 Single Function Printer/Multi Function Printer: 8.1.9. Village offices will get a lot of Printing/Scanning/Copying works once these are computerised and networked. Even if a village office is not computerised it has got a lot of printing/scanning/copying works. At

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present, the village officer is spending extra money for scanning and copying works.

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MOOT

V.s

..

S S S 8.1.10. With the single function printer in the village office, the printing works can

S S S S S S S S S S S S S

only be done. But, if a Multi Function Printer is installed in place, all Printing, Copying and Scanning works can be done with the help of a single unit. This is very much economical as compared to buying separate Printer, Scanner and Copier machines to the office. Therefore the work study team recommends that instead of Single Function Printer, Multifunction Printer should be installed instead of single function printer in all village offices.

o

•• •• • •• •• •• •

120

Computerisation of Village Offices: 8:1.11. With computerisation, the Department will be able to ensure transparency and speedy delivery of services such as issuance of certificates, Transfer of Registry etc. Computerisation of Village Offices was done partially in Kannur and Palakkad districts as a pilot project. Only Pokuvaravu and

.

Issuance of Certificates have been computerised here. Other activities such as the preparation of tax receipt, RR collection and welfare activities need to be computerised. Presently transaction of files/correspondence with Taluk and other offices are done manually. As far as the Collectorate and Taluk Offices are concerned, computerised correspondence is done through softwares called District Suit and Taluk Suit respectively. It is learnt that a software called Village Suit is under development. If it is implemented, full computerisation of village offices will be materialised.

S 8.1.12. In order to conduct a comparative study between computerised and noncomputerised village offices, the work study team visited such village offices coming under the Taluk Office, Alathur, in Palakkad District on 17/02/2012 and 18/02/2012. The details are given below:

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• •• •• • • S

8.1.13. There are 30 village offices under the control of Alathur Taluk Office. Of these offices, 17 are computerised to a certain extent. The programme called E-District is implemented in these offices. With the help of EDistrict, these offices are issuing certificates and conducting Transfer of Registry (Pokkuvaravu). Since the project is only at the stage of inception, some difficulties are experienced in the conduct of activities connected with the above services.

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• • • • • • • .

121 8:1.14. As far as the issue of certificates (one of the major services in a village office) is concerned, the main difficulty is lack of sufficient number of computers. In the E-District programme, there are 3 levels for the issue of certificates. They are Process, Verification and Approval. The first two steps (Process and Verification) can be done by Village Assistants or Special Village Officers. The programme is arranged in such a way that the service of the Village AssistantiSpecial Village Officer can be utilised.

E-District programme has been

implemented in 17 villages under the

Alathur Taluk Office. But there is only one computer each functioning in these 17 village under Alatur Taluk office where the E-District programme

• • 40

implemented.

8.1.15. Another important activity done through computer is the Transfer of Registry (Pokkuvaravu). The proper functioning of the system requires a net working of 4 units viz. Akshaya centers, Village Offices, Sub Registrar's Offices and Taluk Offices. In the 17 village offices where RELIS (Revenue Land Information System) is implemented, Pokkuvaravu

S

is done through computer, but the networking of 4 offices mentioned above is seldom completed. The activities in connection with Pokkuvaravu are detailed below.

S

8.1.16. Those people, who require Pokkuvaravu of their holdings/land, approach the Village Office and register their application for ROR (Recàrd of Right).

ROR is issued in the case where Pkkuvaravu of land

has been

completed. As in the case of issue of certificates, Pokkuvaravu also requires 3 stages. They are 1) Verification, 2) Piocess 3) Approval. In the process stage, the applicants are asked to produce original deed. Site visit

S

• • • S S S S

and inspection is also done if necessary. The staff in the village office cross verifies the details (BTR) already saved in the computer. The ROR is issued to the applicant duly signed by the Village Officer. For sale of property, the land owner submit ROR before the Sub-Registrar through

122 Akshaya Centre. After sale or transfer of the property, details are forwarded to the Village Office by the SRO if it is a case of full subdivision and to the Taluk Office if the case is a part sub division. The whole process is done within a period of one month..

Problems noticed in Computerised Village Offices: •

Improper maintenance of the system and the printer

•

Extreme sluggishness in network traffic

•

Lack of, trained employees

•

Inadequate supply of computer systems and Stationery.

8.1.17. Therefore the work study team suggest that in order to make the computerisation a success, all the problems listed above (1-5) should be addressed immediately and necessary actions should be adopted to get all the works in a village office computerised and not to limit computerisation to one or two items of work.

Merits and Demerits of Computerisation in Village Offices: 8.1.18.

Merits: •

Long queue in viRage offices could be avoided

•

Village employees could work without the stress of answering each and every quesUon of the customers

•

Precious time of the village employees could be utilised for other office works

•

Unlimited copies of the certificates issued could be downloaded

S S 123

S S

•

This facility can be used without time and place constraints, if

S

internet connectivity is available

S S

The public need not travel far to village offices for submitting

S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S

application and receiving cettificates

S S 124

S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S

Recommendations

.

• •

125

Chapter-9 General Recommendations Job Specific Recommendations It is recommended that the time for remitting various taxes may be

S

limited up to 4 pm in order to ensure healthy functioning of village offices. (Para

- 5.10.3)

The work study team suggest to introduce computer-generated receipts for all type of taxes in

S

• •

village offices, immediately. (Para

5.10.4)

The work study team suggest that the limit of cash that can be kept by the village staff should be enhanced to Rs.10,000/- (Para

• •

-

Itis recommended

- 5.10.5)

that the rate of land tax should be revised in a

pragmatic manner proportionate to the land value. (Para

- 5.10.6)

It is suggested that a slab system in the case of Luxury Tax be

• • .

introduced in the state urgently. (Para

It is recommended for revising the Lease rates year by year at a reasonable rate and the same will be resulted in the revenue of Government. (Para

S

•

- 5.10.10)

It is suggested that necessary instructions should be given to the Local

• • • • •

- 5.10.8)

Self Government Institutions to make it mandatory the

.

• 126

• •

remittance of One Time Building Tax in advance in village office for

•

allocation of number to newly constructed buildings. (Para5.10.11)

8.

It is recommended that necessary orders be issued authorizing Village Field Assistants for the collection of various taxes also. Their

•

qualification for the post of Village Field Assistant be revised as pass in 10th standard or equivalent. (Para-5.10.12) -

•

It is recommended for the

• •

delivery of servicetothe public. (Para-5.10.13)

It is recommended for inserting a condition in the Rules and Procedures

related

Institution/Department

•

to

Revenue

approaching

Recovery

Revenue

that

Department

an for

recovery related proceedings should remit 5% of amount in advance to the Revenue Department. (Para- 5.10.14)

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

bifurcation of group villages for effective

II.

It is suggested that the village authorities should be exempted from the work of seizure of illegally mined sand, earth and rock etc. instead, a Revenue Task Force under the control of a Deputy Tahsildar, Headquarters be formed at Taluk level wherever required without creation and recruitment of further staff. (Para- 5.10.15) It is recommended that the Permanent Conveyance Allowance for Village Officer and Village Assistant have to be enhanced at least to

Rs.2501- and Rs.200/- per month respectively.( Para- 5.10.16)

It is recommended that for major data collection work the Tahsildar should hold a discussion with the village officers for arriving at a consensus on the time frame of the data collection and sufficient time should be given accordingly. (Para- 5.10.17)

127

• •

14. It is recommended to form a Contingency Fund of Rs. 1,00,000/- at

•

the Taluk level with the Tahsildar as the custodian of the fund in

•

order to meet contingency expenses at village level. (Para- 5.10.18) 15. It is recommended that every employee in the Revenue department

•

should have at least 2 years of service in a village office and the

•

service in village offices should be made mandatory for getting

•

promotion to the post of Village officer, Revenue inspector and head

•

Clerk. (Para- 5.10.20)

•

16. It is recommended that that the post of Special Village Officer may be

•

renamed as Assistant Village Officer without change of pay or rank

•

and to authorize him to issue certificates in the absence of village

•

officer.Para- 5.11.22)

•

17. It is recommended that the prescribed appIicaton forms for

•

certificates and other purposes should be provided to the people at

•

reasonable rate. (Para-5.11.25)

•

18. It is recommended that the validity of some certificates like nativity,

•

residence, legal heir ship etc. should be made life time. The Revenue

•

Department should consider issuing orders accordingly. (Para-

•

5.11.26)

•

19. The Work study team found the necessity for creation of one post of

•

Village Assistant in 140 village offices in the state. In this

•

circumstance the work study team suggest that a post of Village

•

Assistant be created in the enlisted village offices.(Para-5.11.34)

• • • • • • • • •

128

Office Functioning and Infrastructure

The work study team recommends that Printed Movement register contain 300 pages and with 5 distinctive rows and 6 column as recommended above format be supplied to the Village Offices at the beginning of each financial year in order to ensure uniformity of Movement Register. The Village officer and the Deputy Tahsitdar concerned may take necessary steps to ensure attendance and punctuality in the village office. It is the duty of the Village Officer to ensure that the field visit of the employee is solely for the official purpose.(Para- 6.2.3) It is recommended that an identity card bearing name, photo and designation of the employee be issued to each village staff and make it compulsory to wear the card while

on

duty. (Para-

6.3.1).

It is recommended that a complaint box be installed in all village offices and the key of the box should be kept in the custody of Tahasildar or the person authorized by him. The Tahasildar or the person authorized should open the box once in every 3 months and take action on the complaint, if necessary. (Para- 6.3.1).

It is recommended that proper Induction training should be given to Village Field Assistants, Village Assistants/Special Village Officers and Village Officers at each level without fail. The Department may

S S 129

• •

explore possibilities of utilizing the service

of Institute of

•

Management in Government in this regard. (Para- 6.4.2)

• •

24. It is recommended that registers having good quality paper be

•

supplied to every village office sufficiently at the beginning of each

•

calendar year. (Para - 6.5.4)

25.

It is recommended that the guidelines in the Citizen Charter should strictly be adhered to and the service delivered in line with the first

• •

come first served basis. (Para- 6.6.1)

26. It is suggested that details of Public Information Officers should be displayed in board legibly. (Para-6.7.1)

27. It is suggested that a board displaying the details of Vigilance • • Officers with their telephone numbers in legible letters be prepared and displayed in front of all village offices. The information on the board should be updated'whenever necessary. (Para- 6.8.1)

28. It is recommended that all newly constructing buildings should have at least 1000 sq.ft of plinth area which will surely make working in village offices an enjoyable experience. In the case of buildings which have below 750 sq.ft of plinth area, extension may be added

• • • • • •

for additional space for work. (Para- 6.10.4)

130

• • • •

29.

It is recommended that secondary roofing be installed in all village office buildings where leakage of water is a major problem. (Para6.10.6)

30.

It is suggested that false ceiling be installed in those village offices with tiled roof and the wooden structure should periodically be applied with anti-termite agent. (Para-6.10.7)

31:

a high quality, anti-fungal paint instead of white washing

• •

.

It is recommended for painting all village offices once in 3 years with (Para-

6.10.9)

It is recommended to ensure clean and usable toilets and wash basin as a basic requirement in village offices. Sufficient water availability be ensured through water connection and rain water harvesting.

• •

(Para- 6.10.1 3)

It is recommended that a compound wall of at least 1.60 meters in height with a good gate should be constructed for those village offices without compound wall. (Para-6.10.14)

40

• .

It is recommended to

replacing all existing old and outdated

furniture with modern, ergonomically

built pieceè

of furniture.

Excellent furniture is not only able to make a work space look stylish but can also give it an ambiance of professionalism and success.

• • • • •

.

(Para- 6.10.17)

.

131 35. It is recommended that the Revenue Department should prepare an action plan for equipping the existing village offices and newly constructing buitdings with Rainwater harvesting facility and engage local bodies in the maintenance of the system.(Para-6.10.22)

It is suggested that there must be a Waiting area/room having 7 to 10

S

seating with a table in every village offices. (Para- 6.10.25)

S It is recommended that all newly constructing village offices should

S

have at least 14x14 Square Feet Record Room with proper ventilation and ligAt. Besides, a powerful Vacuum Cleaner may be kept in each Taluk Office and it can also be used to vacuum the dust periodically

S

in every record room of village under its jurisdiction. (Para-7.1 .7)

S It is recommended that the Revenue Department should initiate a

S S

concerted effort to improve the record room and systematic upkeeping of records should be ensured. (Para-7.1.10)

It is suggested that the existing Village Manual should be revised by

S

inserting

record

retention

schedules/guidelines

ensuring

classification and destruction of outdated records. (Para- 7.1.11)

S

40. It is recommended that the village staff should be imparted proper training on Record Keeping. (Para-7.1.12)

S 41. It is suggested to purchase small steel cabinets with door to keep Active records intact. (Para- 7.1.13)

S S S S

132 It is recommended that all existing wooden racks and corroded steel stands should be replaced by anti corrosive steel shelves having wheels and doors to protect the records from accumulation of termites and other pests. (Para-7.1.15)

It is recommended to conduct a Record Survey in all village offices in order to set up an efficient Record Management System in Village Offices. (Para-7.1.22)

It is suggested that all village offices should be provided with sufficient number of computers together with printers and the maintenance of the same be entrusted with KELTRON. (Para-8.1.3) It is suggested that all Village Officers and Special Village OfficersNillage Assistants should be given proper training in computer operations. (Para-8.1.4)

It is recommended to promote Open Source Software in all village offices as a Government policy. . (Para-8.1.6)

It is suggested that all existing CRT monitors should be replaced by LCDITFT monitors. (Para- 8.1.8)

It is recommended that Multifunction Printer should be instilled instead of Single Function Printer. (Para-8.1.10)

It is suggested that in order to make the computerisation a success, all the problems listed above (1-5) should be addressed immediately

7

133 and necessary actions should be adopted to get all the works in a village office computerised and not to limit computerization of to one or two items only. (Para-8.1.17)

o

S S S

p

134

Chapter- 10 Expenditure & Benefit Analysis

Expenditure & Benefit Analysis

10.1.1. With a view to streamlining the functions and to improving the infrastructure of the Village Offices in Kerala State, a slew of measures have been placed by the P & AR Department in the previous chapters.

Before arriving at the recommendations, the precarious financial condition of the State has been taken into account. it is a fact that a welfare state combined with good administrative machinery never comes free of cost.

10.1.2. The staff pattern of the village offices in the state has not been revised for the past 30 years. During this long period, the state witnessed a massive increase in population, land ownership, welfare schemes, law and order problems, constructions, illegal mining, land encroachments. .etc. During the work study, the team came across many villages which are running for breath for want of additional staff. Against this background the team

135 proposed to create one post of Village Assistant each in 140 village offices.

10.1.3. There is an annual financial commitment of Rs. 292123,600/-(Rupees Two Crore, Ninetytwo Lakh Twentythree thousand and. Sixhundred only) is needed for implementing the post creation recommendation in this report.

The amount has been calculated on the basis of the minimum of the basic pay + D.A of each category. The statement showing the additional Annual financial commitment in the Department is shown below; Add! Posts I Scale proposed of Pay

No. of Posts

Financial commitment of each post per year

.

Total annual financial commitment

Remarks

(BP+75%DA)x12

Village AssistantJL. D.Clerk

994016580

140

Rs. 208,740/-

Rs.2,92,23, 660/-

Vide Recommen dations at Para 5JLl7 to Chapter-5

Village Office Infrastructure Development 10.2.1. It is very sad to note that majority of the Village Office buildings is in a dilapidated condition with reeking toilets, damaged electric wiring and leaking roof. With a view to modernize the village offices, the study team is submitS a slew of measures for favourable consideration and implementation.

136 Cost 10.2.2. The cast needed for infrastructure development is definitely a big burden.

Without infrastructure development no improvements in the village administration is possible. The price of building materials is increasing day by day and varies from brand to brand. The price of today is not the price of tomorrow. So are the case with all other installations like Rain water harvesting, Computer systems, Printers, Paints, shelves and Almarahs.

Therefore the team is of the opinion that it is not possible to show the cost of infrastructure development at this point. In this circumstance the best possible alternative method is to involve Jocal self institutions in the development of infrastructure of village offices.

Cost of InfrastruCture development is increasing day by day

Price varies from brand to brand

It is not possible to furnish a statement on Infrastructure development

to

137

Possible Alternatives

Offsetting Measures 10.3.1. It is a fact that the expenditure towards the salary and other perks is an additional burden on the state exchequer. But there are no alternatives before the Workstudy team than the suggestion of additional posts. In the mean time there is still light at the other end of the tunnel that the Revenue Department can channel more money in to the exchequer by revising the existing disproportionate Tax rate of various types. See picture on next page.

138 Land Tax. Luxury Tax. Commercial Building Tax. Big Plantation Tax, Lease Rate

0

Exchequer

Bank Loan BSNL, KSFE, Private Establishments.

KSEB C

S S

Gain analysis The gain analysis with regard to the suggestions and

10.4.1.

S

recommendations contained in the workstudy report is detailed

S

below.

S

Speedy processing of the applications submitted by the Villagers Introduction of Front office will ensure speedy service delivery.

S S S

Queue and crowd in village offices can be avoided.

C.

Heavy work load and the resultant stress over the staff can be mitigated to a great extent

S S S S S S S

C.

There will be no queue and crowd in village offices and people can save precious time

S S S

139 9

S S S

have service even without visiting the village offices. +

S S S S S S S S

9 •

Refurbished village offices provide a soothing experience to the village staff to work in.

Speedy implementation of government plans and schemes

4

Implementation of general administration can be improved.

4

People feel more satisfaction and proximity towards the government

+

Government can reach out to the common people and thus prove it is always with the people Improved Tax collection

S S

Village staff becomes people friendly and service oriented Heavy stationery expenditure can be reduced to a large extent

S S S

Once the computerizatibn of Village offices is finished, people can

+

Sophisticated and efficient Records keeping system Efficient check over illegal activities like sand mining, land filling etc

S S S S S S S S

I

+

Improved inflow of cash to the state exchequer through revised tax rates and commission through loan recovery.

t

.

140

S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S

a

S S S S S S S S S S S

ANNEXURE

4

41 ..

Annexu re Rate of Basic tax

Period Till 31.3.88 1.4.1988 to3l.3.1993 1.4.1993 to 31.3.1998

...

130

II

Panchayath Rs.0.05/ are Rs.O.25/ are Rs.0. 50/are

Muncipality Rs.0.05/ are Rs.0. 50/ are Rs.1.00/ are

Corporation Rs.0.05/ are Rs.1.00/ are Rs.2.00/are

From 1.4.1998 the rate is as follows Rate of Buildina tax (In Rijneps'I

.,

Area Corporation

Extent Up to 2 are Above 2 are Up to Gare Above 6 are Up to 20 are Above 20 are

Muncipality/ TOwnship Panchayath

S S S

S S S

I S

S S

.

a

ith Area

Rate Rs.2.00per are Rs.4.00per are Rs.1.00per are Rs.2.00per are Rs.0.50per are Rs.1.00per are

IGrama panchayat [SpIgr Panchayatl Town Mun Corp bther than SpI Gr [chayaUMuncipaI an Co uncil Lrama Panchayat . . .

ii. Buildings 100sqmts we 100 sq mts but exceeding 150 sq

frJl.

we 150 sq mts but exceeding 200 sq

11500

we 200 sq mts but exceeding 250 its eeding 250 sqrnts

3000

.

.

.

..

750

...1350

2025

2700

4050 .

5400

8100

3000 +600every addl 5400 +Rs.1200 every addi LU Sqmt 10 sq mts

er building

exceeding 50 fri aremetrés ye 50 square metre050 not exceeding

..

...

il b.soo

3100 + Rs.1500 ?very addl 10 sq ilts

-

frI F IjOO6

-.

S S

S S S S S S S S S S

'3!

)0ve75 square metresb25 it not exceeding 100 uare metres )ove 100 square 2250 ?tres but not ceeding 150 square

Fc2so

4500 a

•11

150 square but not ing 200 square 200 square but not ing 250square

3000

plus Rs.900 for additional 10

ing 250 square

of Plantation tax Extent

plus Rs.1800 for additional 10 sq.mt

rate

btal plantation area below o tax ectars (except areca nut I tndcocon) ¼reca nut and coconut 'Jo tax lantation area below 4 ectares tal plantation area Es. 100 for each hectare above 2 hectares. etween 2 and 4 hectares Except areca nut and oconut) btal plantation extent [No tax for area up to 2 hectares (Except for areca nut and etween 4 and 8 hectares oconut) Rs. 150/- for remaining each hectares. No tax for [Coconut and areca nut for area below 4 hectares above it Ps. 150/- for each hectares •_____ otal plantation area [ps. 350/- for each hectares above 2 hectare. Ps. 250/- for etween 8 and 15 hectares [each hectare above 4 hectare for areca nut and coconut frlantation otal plantation area above Rs. 350/- for each hectares above 2 hectare. Ps. 350/:for 5 hectares each hectares above 4 hectares for coconut and areca nut plantation.

-

S

.

S

S S S

.

0

U

)00 pus Rs.225' every additional sq. mt

.

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