work study report on village offices kerala

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Page 1: Work study report on village offices Kerala

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GOVERNMENT OF KERALA

PERSONNEL & ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS DEPARTMENT

Work Study Report on Village offices under Land Revenue Department

PERSONNEL & ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS (AR-5) DEPARTMENT

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Government of Kerala • Personnel & Administrative Reforms Department

• To, -

• 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

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

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

• Offices under Land Revenue Department in Kerala with a view to

• streamline the procedures followed in the village offices so as to

• reduce the work burden and to put forward suggestions to transform

the village offices into model government offices.

. We are glad to submit fair copies of our report.

- Yours faithfully

• .

- 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 Team-

5 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 I

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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S 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.

• 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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• I • Or. Nivedida P. Haran

• Principal Secretary and ACS to Government

• I S I • • • I I I.

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Table of Contents

Chapter Subject Page No.

1 Executive Summary 8 - 10

2 Introduction

11 - 15

3 Genesis of the Present Study

16 - 17

4 Methodology

18- 19

5 Organisational Setup & Analysis 20 - 84

6 A Report on Office Inspection & Infrastructure_Facilities 85— 104

Records Management in Village Offices-An Overview 105— 114

B Computerisation of Village Offices

115-123

9 Recommendations

124- 133

10 Expenditure & Benefit Analysis

134 - 139

Annexure 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

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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

a C• Computerization of Land Tax W

4. 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

• solution to the problems being faced in village offices is certainly not a

• panacea to all the problems that are confronted by the Revenue

Department from head to toe. A complete and comprehensive study of the

Revenue Department is necessary to look into the serious issues that are

- 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 oI 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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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

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

S 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

I of the peasants.

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2.2:3. With the advent of the British rule in India, the political and economic

I scenario underwent far reaching changes. The British superimposed a

I system in tune with British customs and laws relating to land. During the

I British times, the Revenue Department was the pivot of

S administration. The Collector was the virtual monarch at the district,

around whom the entire administration revolved.

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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

I recent decades, focus has been less on Land Reforms and more on Land

Development and Administration such as Drought - Prone Area

I Programme, Desert Development Programme and Watershed

I Development Programme etc.

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History of Revenue Administration in Kerala

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

attention during the reign of Marthanda Varma.

2.3.2. The state establishment had a Valiya Sarvadhikaryakkar (Prime Minister),

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

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

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

or district in the state was divided into taluks called Mandapathuvatukkals

which was further subdivided into Kelvis or villages. The

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.

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.

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,

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

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

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

various departments and developmental programmes of the State.

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

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

Commission and it contained some substance for action. The report

envisaged a qualitative change in the internal functioning of the

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

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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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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Chapter-3

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

increased proportionately to the

The workload in village offices has

increase in population and land

ownership. Moreover, being the grass root level unit of General

administration, the village offices haüe 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 : 1 Post

Special Village OfficerNillage Assistant : 2

Village Field Assistant. : 2

TOTAL : 5 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

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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.

Irlar

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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,

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

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

Kumarakom. The annual workload of functionaries, both clerical and

supervisory, were obtained for a period of one year. The base year for

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

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

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

I Commissionci (Land Peveauc) and Stale thnd 8oard

Addttlonoi Cc,nmlsstcnel [

Secretory Land Board -

4 4 Assistant Secretory

Assistant Commissioners District Copectors

TWO Land aoord ApraIIoie Authority (In)

Pevenue DlvtsionoiOfficer Ooptitv C0412ctO,s 4 '7

Land Tribunals

latuldor Additional tonSdar Special tohstdars

I 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 /

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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)

SVONA2

VFA2

Legend:

V.0 - Village Officer

S.V.O - Special Village Officer

V.F.A - Village Field Assistant

V.M - 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

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

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

• village offices need special attention and proper enquiry.

Village Officer

• 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

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

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. 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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5.4.1. Duties of Special Village OfficerNillage

Assistant . -.

> Tax collection

Preparation of monthly DCB Statement and Annual Revenue

Accounts

Administration of village offices in the absence of village officer

Proper maintenance and updating of records and other registers

Prepare Land Revenue Registers and Accounts accurately

Prepare reports and periodicals to higher officers

Survey of Puramboke land and prepare sketch and A form

statements

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

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

their property on the orders of Tahsildar

Execute all the jobs assigned by the Village Officer

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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5.5.2. 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.

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Major Services available from Village Offices

Issue of various types of certificates

Possession Certificate:

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.

Location Certificate:

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

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

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

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.

I

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30 . • Caste Certificate (Other than SCIST): S

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

• GO (MS) 1039/79/RD dated 06.08.1979 and GO

• (MS)No.882/82/RD dated 20.08.1982. All 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 S to the Village Officer along with school registration particulars, the

S caste related documents of the parents of the applicant, ration card S 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

S Government. The Village Officer is empowered to issue Conversion

S Certificates, as per circular NO.18421/E2/87/SCSTDD dated

5 15.12.1987. In case where the certificates could not be issued; the

• reason will be intimated to the applicant within 10 days.

S Income Certificate: •

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

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

S 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

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

• S

S

• S

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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

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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

• . . • • • •

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• 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 lifelong as per GO (MS)No.136/07/RD

dated.27.4.2007. 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

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

• dated.27.4.2007.

S

• • 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

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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

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

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

a 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).

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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 backward Classes as per GO (P)

No.36/2000/SCSTDD dated 27.5.2000, GO (P) • No.46/2007/SCSTDD dated 25.8.2007 and GO (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.

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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.

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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:

• 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.

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

S.

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

• S

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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

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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

other duties that normally do not related to the Land Revenue

• Department. Following are such nature of works exercised by the

• village officers.

• • • • S

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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

• • • • •

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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

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S 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:

• 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

S

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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

Application for this purpose should be submitted to the Revenue

S

Divisional Officer concerned. The Revenue Divisional Officer forward

the same for report of the Village Officer through the Tahsildar. The

I report furnished by the village officer should include sketch of the

I property, Mahassar, Extract of basic tax register and copy of title deed.

I Protection of Survey marks:

I 5.9.6. The Village Officer in entrusted with the following duties as per the

I provisions contemplated in section 17 of the Survey and boundaries

Act, 1961. I 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

should be submitted periodically

I

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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.

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: . 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

• 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

• • S

S

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0

S

0

0

0

S

S

S

S

S

S S

S

S S

S

S

S S

FN

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

4 Damage to house

+ For the emergency supply of drinking water

• Damage to welts

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

9 For rescue operations, search operations

Other functions

SI. Functions FName of Act/Rules

1 fprevent destruction, The Kerala Survey and alteration of survey Iremoval, Boundaries Act, 1961 and Rules

marks, furnish reports to 964 Tahsildars, collection of Survey dues etc.

[{ëollection of tax /revenue jlrrigation Cess

L a maintenance of records

3 [Collection of tax /revenue Ikerala Building Tax Act and maintenance of records

r bIeii Ire Revenue Recovery Act maintenance of records -.

5 Throtect Government land Kerala Land Conservancy Act from encroachment,

of dues and

lcollection furnishing reports on • encroachment I

[i Enquiry on land Kerala land relinquishment Act relinqthshrnent

[Recoveryofarrears !Kerala Land Development Act

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S

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S

S S

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8fFurnhingreport [Kerala Land Utilisation Order

1 9 ollection_of dues Iseulement scheme patta Rules [Ti Collection of dues Rules for sale of land for coffee

11 Collection of dues

and tea cultivation rules,1974

Rules for lease of land to Government offices and Bungalow

[T ñ enquiry reports, collection of dues and

IRules for lease of Government land for tobacco cultivation

maintenance of records 13 [Management of surplus land Kerala Land Reforms Act

jand collection of usufructs

r14 JManagementof receiver Civil Procedure Code,1908

15

property

[urnish preliminary erala Escheats'and Forfeitures information on escheated rAct 1964 and Rules, 1965

to Tahsildar and 1 cases management of escheated

16 JEnquiry and report to the Tahsildar

property Kerala Treasure Trove Act, 1968 and Rules 1971

17 [Enquiry and report to the The Kerala Scheduled Tribes Tahsildar (Restriction on transfer of lands

and restoration of alienated lands) Act, 1975 and Rules 1986

118 Report on Transfer of Transfer of Registry Rules, 1966, Registry cases

19 Furnish enquiry reports :Kerala Minor Mineral Concessions Rules 1967

[o[urnish enquiry reports jArms Act and Rules

r21 7ish enquiry reports Explosives Act and Rules

fl22 [Furnish enquiry reports Government orders on issue of certificates

23 [&nish enquiry reports Kandukrishi land Assignment Rules, 1958

r24 1Furnish enquiry repo rts Sreepandaravaka lands

I ( and Rules

[26 Furnish enquiry reports IThe Kerala Service Inam lands V&E) Act 1981 and Rules 1981

'--27 IFurnish enquiry reports Ikannan Devan Hills (resumption)

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• Atct 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

I Tahsildar Ex-land lords 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

• • • • •

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I 45 Updating of land records Ker&a Land Reforms (vesting • and assignment) Rules, 1970

. 46 Render assistance for Scheme for providing financial evacuation, rescue, relief, jassistance to victims of Natural • shelter, food, clothing, calamity and disaster

• medical aid, sanction, rehabilitation etc. of the

• affected - • 47 Enquiry and report Scheme for death compensation

to the legal heirs of the NRls

• 48 Enquiry and report. rScheme for grant of financial assistance to the widows for

I marriage_of their daughters

I 49 Enquiry report to the local National Old Age Pension self Govt. Scheme

I 50 Enquiry report to the local jcheme for payment of —nsi self Govt. to physically Handicapped - -

51 Enquiry report to the local National Maternity benefit scheme I self Govt.

I 52 Enquiry report to the local pension to unmarried women self Govt. labove 50 years

I 53 Enquiry and report IScheme for unemployment wages

• 54 Enquiry report to LSG Aicultural workers pension

I 55 Enquiry and report to LSG Financial Assistance for marriage of daughter's of women belonging • to scheduled Castes/Scheduled

a W

Tribes

56 :nqjjfty and report IRules of assignment of Govt. land I for industrial purpose

• 57 Collection of arrears - - Rules for grant of land improve merit and Agricultural loan • 58 ProvEding site plans to The Kerala Survey and

I Courts IlBoundaries Act, 1961

159 • Enquiry and report IThe Citizenship Act

60 Arrangement of polling Election Manual/Conduct of I •stations Election Rules

• 61 Enquiry and report - Foreign Contrthution Act

• 62 Enquiry and report :Prevention of atrocities against SC/ST Act

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63 jEnquiry and report - Evacuees Property Act

64 [Rendering assistance lJoint verification of Tribal lands

65 [Rendering assistance IJoint verification of Forest lands

66 [Enquiry and report For Coffee registration

[ëT[nquiry and report - IFor cardamom registration

[ëiEnquiry and report Mental Health Act

[69 and repo rt Prevention of Cruelty towards

I I Animals Act

r° [furnish report Criminal Procedi.ire Code

71 Furnish report - - - Agricultural pests and Diseases

- - -

- Act,1958 H r72 i Furnish report - Kerala Anatomy Act 1 1957

73 [Furnish report IKerala Forest Act,1961

74 ~V6 rnish report Kerala livestock improvement Act,1961

175lFurnish report - Kerala Panchayat Raj Act

[76 Furnish report Criminal Justice

RVI

& 4

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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 in village offices. The practice of issuing

• manual/handwritten receipts still continues. This practice is time

• consuming when compared to computer-generated receipts. By entering

• the details of land and landowners in computer at the time of tax

• •. • • •

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• 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.

• • • • • •

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• 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

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

• S

El -.4

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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

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

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.

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

concerned, permit from the Local Self Governments is inevitable for

availing electricity and water connections. If Local Self Governments insist

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

approach the village office for remitting one time building tax. This method

will help the village officer to identify new constructions, save much time

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.

'0

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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 Class-

Ill. 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

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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.

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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

Page 58: Work study report on village offices Kerala

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

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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

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 Contingency Fund 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 40

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 Administration of the government. Moreover the village

employees should be well versed with the rules and regulations of

• •

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• 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

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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

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• which is collected from the general public without proper enquiry. This

• leads undeserving applicants to gain benefit.

S 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 • 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.

• 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

• 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

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• 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.

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

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.

0

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• X-c---, •• /lroce

• ( ssing n Other Works V.F.A Tax

Collection

Other Works

o ,

• Other • Works

V.A

Duties

assign

ed by Vt)

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 ;-

cast

Finañc

hal •.. Condit

• ton

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S If an average of 10 minutes is to be allotted for issuing a certificate, a

S village officer can issue an average of 30 certificates per day pending

S

300 minutes (ie. 5 hours per day).This means that 81% of the working

S

time of an employee per day is utilized for issuing certificates only.

S S S

S

S ~Jo

369

S Q

S S S I • Total Time 369 min • Time for Certificates. 300 nun. 83%

S

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 • thereby spoiling the reputation of the village and ultimately may spoil the

I 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 has also to carry out the instructions of the higher level Revenue officers

S with regard to general administration; attend meetings, conferences, hold

S meetings etc. This also consumes large portion of a village officer's time.

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

S S

S

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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.

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

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

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

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

issuance of Tax receipt.

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.

I I I

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a I a a a a a a a a a a a a a

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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.

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• 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.

• • • • •

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Therefore, they have to prepare duplicate registers all by themselves

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

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

therefore, take every initiative in the direction of supplying necessary

registers and other stationery to them at the appropriate time

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

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

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

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.

Jan Feb Mar Apr

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0

o Crtfcts

o Tax

0 PokuvaravU

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

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

issued is more than that of the remaining months.)

1 Noof Certificates I issued during 2010

I and 2011

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

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• 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

• • • • •

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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

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• 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 is one Village Officer two

. 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 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

S . 0

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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

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.

SI. No ______________________

Item

Time (hours per day)6.15X31 8.45

Total Time (hours per year) 1700X351 00

1 Certificates(30 numbers) 5 1350

2 Tax Collection(50 receipts) 5.8 1575

3 Pokuvaravu(4 cases) 3 810

4 Field Visit 3 819

5 Register &Records Keeping 1 270

6 GeneralAdministration works

0.45 121

Total I 4936 Man Hours

Difference in Time Taken = 5100 —4936 = 164 Man Hours

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A graphical representation of the above commutation is given below

75

r nCeritificates

aField Visit

C Excess time

I

UTax tPokuvarau

a Register&Records a General Works

£10

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.

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A village office dealing with 30 certificates: 50 tax receipts, 4 Pokkuvaravu

cases can function with the existing staff strength. See another situation

below

SLNo Item Total Time

(hours/year)

1 Certificates(60 numbers) = 2700

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

Total 6821 hours

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.

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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.

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A graphical representation of this aspect is given below.

—0--- -- •0 -U -

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

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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 - I • Work

€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 -

1 - Kadakampally Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram

2 Peroorkada Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram

3 Uliyazhathura Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapurarn

4 Kollayil Neyyattinkara Thiruvananthapuram

5 Perumpazhuthur Neyyattinkara Thiruvananthapuram

6 Chenkal Neyyattinkara Thiruvananthapuram

t Parassala - Neyyattinkara Thiruvananthapuram

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8 Karode Neyyattinkara Thiruvananthapuram

9 Kunnathukal Neyyattinkara Thiruvananthapuram

10 Perumkadavila Neyyattinkara Thiruvananthapuram

11 Kulathummal Neyyattinkara Thiruvananthapuram

12 Ottasekharamang alam

Neyyattinkara Thiruvananthapuram

13 Vilavoorkkal Neyyattinkara Thiruvananthapuram

14 Tholikkode Nedumangadu - Thiruvananthapuram

15 Veeranakavu Nedumangadu Thiruvananthapuram

16 Uzhamalakkal Nedumangadu Thiruvananthapuram

17 Aryanad Nedumangadu - Thiruvananthapuram

18 - 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

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39 Yeroor J Pathanapuram Kollam 40 Pattazhi North Pathanapuram Kollam 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 66 IThalavady Kuttanad Alappuzha 67 Komalapuram Ambalappuazha Alappuzha

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68 Thanneermukkam South

Cherthala 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 - Kottayam

81 Kooroppada Kottayam Kottayam

82 Kidangoor Meenanchil Kottayam

83 Poovarani Meenanchil - Kottayam

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 - Ernakulam

95 Mattoor Aluva Ernakulam

96 Poonithura Kanayannur Ernakulam

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97 C hera nail ur Ka naya nn u r Erna kula m 98 Kumbalam Kanayannur Ernakujam 99 Maradu Kanayannur Ernakulam 100 Vazhakkaja Kanayannur Ernakulam 101 Thrikkakkara Kanayannur Ernakulam North

102 Fort Kochj Kochj Ernaku lam 103 Rameswaram Kochj Ernakulam 104 Varappuzha Paravoor Ernakulam 105 Vadakkekkara jParavoor Ernakulam 106 Karumapoor Paravoor Ernakulam 107 Eriyadu Kodungaflur Thrissur 108 Karaiam Mukundapuram Thrissur 109 Kodakara Mukundapuram Thrissur 110 Guruvayoor. Chavakkadu Thrissur Iringapram 111 Mullasserj- Chavakkadu Thrissur Annakkara 112 Kizhakkancherj(J Aiathur Paiakkad 113 Pirayiri Palakkad Paiakkacj 114 Neliayar Ottappalam Paiakkad 115 Pattithara Ottappalam Palakkad 116 Marancheri Ponnani Malappuram 117 Mankada Perinthalmanna Malappuram 118 Payyanad Eranad Malappuram 119 Edavanna Eranad Malappuram 120 Urgattari Eranad Malappuram 121 Chungathara Nilambur Malappuram 122 Thiruvaly Nilambur Malappuram 123 Kadalundy Kozhikkode Kozhikkocj 124 Panniyankara Kozhikkode Kozhjkkode 125 Puthiyangady Kozhikkode Kozhikkocje 126 Elathur KozhikjçQ Kozhjkkode

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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 - Wayanad

137 Kathiroor Thalasserry Kannur

138 Anjarakkandy Kannur Kannur

139 Kanhangad Hosdurg Kasargode

140 Kudlu(G.V.) Kasargode Kasargode

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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

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in some of the village offices. Uniformity in maintaining Registers is an

unavoidable factor in an Organization/Department and uniformity of

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 Register of Village under Taluk for

month )-(yj)

Date Time Name of Employee Designatiøn Purpose

of field From To

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

majority of the village offices are not legible. Arrival time is not entered in S

majority of the movement register. Some village staff is supposed to be S

misused the Movement Register. They go out of the office for personal S 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

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

• 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

• 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,

• • • • •

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• 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 of the Village

• Offices in the state have untrained staff. 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 Assistants/Special Village Officers and Village Officers should have

separate training modules. Some personality development courses may 40

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 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)

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

S 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

S forced to spend a portion of their wage to this purpose or they are

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, as these registers are of great importance to the

department, 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 paper becomes yellow, then brown, and increasingly brittle. Moreover,

S sufficient registers are not provided to the village offices. This situation

5 compels employees to purchase ordinary notebooks and convert them

5 into registers which shortens the life span of registers. Therefore the

• work study team suggest that registers having good quality paper be

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.

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• 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 S

• 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.

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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

1 .--. --

• -- *ff- - - - - ___ r- --• - - •. :.-., __ - _____

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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, and on the 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".

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• 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 - 7 square metres is recommended as a minimum

• for the footprint - 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.

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• 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

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

S 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.

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

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• 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.

• • • • • • • •

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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.

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

being faced with acute power shortage. In this circumstance, the work

study team recommends the following

Use sealed channels for electric wiring

Install Circuit Breaker in all village offices

Old incandescent bulbs and tube lights should be replaced with

C FLs

Old power consuming fans should be replaced with energy star

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

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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 anti-

social 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

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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.

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6.10.18. A suggestion about new piece of office furniture which could be accepted

by the Revenue Department is given below

-j I.

t. 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

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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 three-

and-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

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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.

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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 .

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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

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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

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can be adopted in village Offices is seen below.

Front Office Processing

cz(ssuing Certificatesl B VA/VFA

ft

Viflage Assista ~nt After

proce ssing

&for

verific

9- Village Officer p Verification

[office recordsl

6.9.27. The above proposed Front Office be computerized and computer-

generated 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.

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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

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. 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.

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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

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• 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 • • • • •

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systematic upkeeping of records in village offices. In these circumstances,

the work study team recommends that the village staff should be

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

minimise fading.

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

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.

• 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

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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.

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(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.

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• 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

• 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

S Applications

• Tax, Recovery Records

• .6. Records related to litigation

S 7. Records related to General Administration

40 • 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 49

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.

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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 7.1.22. There is a common misconception among government officials that

S computerizing records- or microfilming them will solve the problem of

S records management. However this is far from the truth. Simply

S computerizing or microfilming existing records without carrying out a

records survey or developing retention schedules will only ensure that a

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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

S management program in place before thinking about digitizing records.

S 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 S 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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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.

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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 training in computer

operations.

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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.

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

more prone to VIRUS and Sperm attack whereas Open Source Software

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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its Low Power requirement 250% or more power

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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

• 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

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

Therefore the work study team suggest that all existing CRT

monitors should replaced by LCDITFT monitors.

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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

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

copying works.

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

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.

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• 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 non-

computerised 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: S

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 E- • District, 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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• 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

implemented. • • 8.1.15. Another important activity done through computer is the Transfer of

40 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 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

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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

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

internet connectivity is available

The public need not travel far to village offices for submitting

application and receiving cettificates

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Recommendations

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• 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 village offices, immediately. (Para - 5.10.4)

S • • 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 - 5.10.5)

• Itis recommended 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 - 5.10.8)

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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 - 5.10.10) S • It is suggested that necessary instructions should be given to the

Local Self Government Institutions to make it mandatory the

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• 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 bifurcation of group villages for effective

delivery of servicetothe public. (Para-5.10.13) • •

It is recommended for inserting a condition in the Rules and

Procedures related to Revenue Recovery that an

Institution/Department approaching Revenue Department for

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

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)

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• 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)

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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

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• 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)

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29. It is recommended that secondary roofing be installed in all village • office buildings where leakage of water is a major problem. (Para-

• 6.10.6)

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: It is recommended for painting all village offices once in 3 years with

a high quality, anti-fungal paint instead of white washing . (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) • . . • • • •

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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

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

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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

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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 concerted effort to improve the record room and systematic

S upkeeping of records should be ensured. (Para-7.1.10)

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

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inserting record retention schedules/guidelines ensuring

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

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40. It is recommended that the village staff should be imparted proper

training on Record Keeping. (Para-7.1.12)

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41. It is suggested to purchase small steel cabinets with door to keep

Active records intact. (Para- 7.1.13)

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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

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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)

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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

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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 No. of Financial Total annual Remarks proposed of Pay Posts commitment of

. financial each post per commitment

year (BP+75%DA)x12

Village 9940- 140 Rs. 208,740/- Rs.2,92,23, Vide AssistantJL. 16580 660/- Recommen D.Clerk 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.

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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

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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.

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

0 Exchequer

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Bank Loan BSNL, KSFE, Private Establishments. KSEB

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10.4.1. The gain analysis with regard to the suggestions and

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Speedy processing of the applications submitted by the Villagers

Introduction of Front office will ensure speedy service delivery. S

Queue and crowd in village offices can be avoided. S S

C. Heavy work load and the resultant stress over the staff can be

mitigated to a great extent

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C. There will be no queue and crowd in village offices and people can

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9 Once the computerizatibn of Village offices is finished, people can

have service even without visiting the village offices.

+ Village staff becomes people friendly and service oriented

Heavy stationery expenditure can be reduced to a large extent

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

+ Sophisticated and efficient Records keeping system

Efficient check over illegal activities like sand mining, land filling etc

+ Improved inflow of cash to the state exchequer through revised tax

rates and commission through loan recovery.

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ANNEXURE

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Annexu re

Rate of Basic tax II

Period Panchayath Muncipality Corporation Till 31.3.88 Rs.0.05/ are Rs.0.05/ are Rs.0.05/ are 1.4.1988 to3l.3.1993 Rs.O.25/ are Rs.0. 50/ are Rs.1.00/ are 1.4.1993 to 31.3.1998 Rs.0. 50/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 Extent Rate Corporation Up to 2 are Rs.2.00per are

Above 2 are Rs.4.00per are Muncipality/ TOwnship Up to Gare Rs.1.00per are

Above 6 are Rs.2.00per are Panchayath Up to 20 are Rs.0.50per are

Above 20 are Rs.1.00per are

ith Area IGrama panchayatbther

[SpIgr Panchayatl Town Mun Corp than SpI Gr [chayaUMuncipaI an Co uncil

Lrama Panchayat . . .

ii. Buildings . . .

100sqmts frJl. .. ..- we 100 sq mts but 750 .1350 2025 exceeding 150 sq

we 150 sq mts but 11500 2700 4050 exceeding 200 sq .

we 200 sq mts but 3000 5400 8100 exceeding 250 its eeding 250 sqrnts 3000 +600every addl 5400 +Rs.1200 every addi 3100 + Rs.1500

LU Sqmt 10 sq mts ?very addl 10 sq ilts

er building ... - .. exceeding 50 fri il frI aremetrés F ye 50 square metre050 b.soo IjOO6 not exceeding

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

Extent 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. .

of Plantation tax

150 square but not ing 200 square

200 square but not ing 250square

ing 250 square

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Fc2so

4500 a •11

plus Rs.900 for additional 10

3000

plus Rs.1800 for additional 10 sq.mt

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

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