The Centre has asked state governments to consider leasing out vacant land parcels owned by village panchayats to improve revenue.
The Centre observed that vast extent of lands was left unoccupied giving scope for encroachment. It noted that leasing of such properties will help local bodies to improve its revenues at least by 63 per cent over the present revenues.
National Council for Applied Economics and Research (NCAER) carried out a study on the issue and submitted a report with its findings to the Centre. The Centre forwarded the report to the state government with a suggestion to consider the report’s recommendations.
The state government has directed village panchayats to identify suitable land to grant them on lease. The NCAER report said that auctioning of village tanks by converting them in to fish tanks is expected to improve revenues by 21 per cent.
Similarly, the report said local bodies could enhance their revenues by 10 per cent by leasing of vacant lands to private godowns and cold storage facilities. A few sites could also be given on lease as grazing sites to help farmers and cattle.
The report also suggested local bodies to make full use of its borewells after tapping waters for its drinking water needs. “The leasing of borewells/motors owned by village panchayats to other purposes will improve the revenues by 26 per cent,” said NCAER report.
It observed that maintenance of the vacant lands had become a big headache for the local bodies resulting in additional expenditure.
