TN relaxes norms, eligibility for encroachment regularisation across Chennai, neighbourhood

CHENNAI: Marking a major policy initiative, the State government on Sunday issued an order introducing relaxations in eligibility criteria and land valuation norms across Chennai and its adjacent districts of Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, and Tiruvallur.

The move is aimed at easing regularisation of residential encroachments in these districts.

According to the revised guidelines detailed in the GO issued by P Amudha, Additional Chief Secretary of the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, the annual family income ceiling for availing free house site pattas has been enhanced from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, extending the scheme's benefit to a broader segment of economically weaker sections.

For residents within Chennai, Tambaram, and Avadi Corporations, families earning less than Rs 5 lakh per annum will be allowed to regularise a maximum of three cents of encroached land — two cents will be regularised free of cost, and an additional one cent regularised upon payment of the prescribed land value.

Even those with income exceeding Rs 5 lakh can pay to regularise up to three cents.

The GO also outlined a differentiated land value fixation system. In urban areas, beneficiaries with annual income below Rs 5 lakh will have to pay only 25% of the land value for any additional extent, while families earning between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 12 lakh a year will be charged 50% of the land value for the primary extent, and 100% for any additional land.

Income tax payees with annual incomes above Rs 12 lakh will be required to pay 100% of the land value for the entire extent proposed for regularisation.

These norms apply uniformly across both urban and rural areas.

To ensure stringent verification, revenue officials conducting field assessments must mandatorily collect PAN and Aadhaar details of all employed adult family members, along with copies of Income Tax returns where applicable.

The collected data will undergo multi-layered verification at taluk and district levels and cross-verification with government databases to prevent misuse, the GO added.

The move follows representations received from stakeholders highlighting the challenges faced by poor encroachers, particularly in high-value urban zones like Chennai, where the cost of land is deemed prohibitive.

Following consultations chaired by the Chief Secretary with district Collectors, the matter was placed before the State Cabinet on April 17 and subsequently approved.

Earlier, through a GO dated February 21, the government had lifted the long-standing ban on regularisation of residential encroachments on unobjectionable government poramboke lands, within specific distance limits from municipal and town peripheries.

The latest amendments are expected to substantially benefit more than 86,000 urban and rural families while also streamlining revenue records.