For the first time in the history of Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA), the officials have launched a programme called Kadatha Yagna, an intensive drive to clear the long- pending files.

The drive was launched last Friday, and despite being a holiday on account of Ramzan, officers of all the eight Zonal offices, Managers and case-workers attended the meeting and reviewed the records from 10 am to 3 pm.

According to sources, henceforth the officials will be reviewing and clearing the long-pending applications and files even on holidays. They will also do over-time on regular work days under the supervision of MUDA Commissioner Dr. C.G. Betsurmath.

The problem of huge backlog has plagued MUDA in recent years due to the high number of retirements, according to one of the personnel. This being the case, new staff is not being recruited, which has caused shortage of manpower in the MUDA, he said. While MUDA officials blame the lack of manpower, citizens say it is the lack of office time at the MUDA. The visiting hours for public at MUDA for all works that require interaction with MUDA officials is just two-and-a-half hours from 3 pm to 5.30 pm.

One citizens asked this reporter, “How many people can get their work done in just two-and-a-half hours in a government office? Can MUDA officials deal with Khata registration, Khata transfer, title-deeds, NOCs etc., for the whole city by interacting for just two-and-half hours?” he asked.

Owing to delay in MUDA-related works, many citizens have lodged complaints with the government, who in turn, are exerting pressure on the MUDA officials, which has now come up with this new drive. Also, under the new online service Spandana, citizens can check the status of their applications online.

The citizens can lodge complaints if the applications are not cleared within the time stipulated by the government.

With the new drive many new issues have cropped up such as vacant MUDA sites that can be forfeited. It is estimated that there are around 25,000 vacant sites in city that were allotted at least 25 years ago. But according to MUDA sources nearly 5,000 vacant sites are eligible for forfeiture, as the allotees have not followed the Urban Development Act (Distribution Rules). These vacant sites are the ones for which title-deeds have been issued and conditions fulfilled.

Recently, the engineers of all zones had made a physical verification of the vacant sites in various layouts of the city and reported about them to the MUDA Secretary.

Accordingly, the Zonal Office managers compared the lists of vacant sites with the records available with them.

It has been decided to issue showcase notices to the allottees of sites that are lying vacant for more than 10 years, after obtaining the government’s permission.

Meanwhile, an internal meeting of MUDA officials was held today to discuss about issuing notices and forfeiting the vacant sites.

Yagna panic

As the news about Kadatha Yagna spread, many citizens who were standing around at the MUDA office very stricken by panic and confusion. Reason, they thought that it was a repossession of sites and that files would be burnt! This confusion was because of the word Yagna associated with burning, used along with Kadatha which means files. So they thought they were going to burn their files.

Courtesy : Star Of Mysore