mutations following land transfers), Collector's office, and the Revenue Inspector _(finalpublication andpatta distribution)._ After the final publication of the RORs, the field maps are prepared at the Settlement Office to indicate the exact shape of individual plots within the village.

# Box 6: Nature of objections at a settlement camp

At the camp in Badavema village, Khurda district, more than 70 percent of objections related to non-recording of mutations for transferx deeds (sales and partition). About 20 percent arose out of errors during demarcation. Inheritance (3 percent), change of land title (3 percent) and land classification (1 percent) made up the rest of the objections. About 15 percent of objections relating to inheritance were brought by married women who had been denied a share in their deceased father's property by their brothers.

Nearly one-third of the total number of objections were disallowed. This is a special category which relates to encroachment on government land. The encroaching parties have no _patta_ (documentary evidence of land rights, i.e. sale deed or title) and the objection is thrown out. An Encroachment Register is prepared by the settlement staff which records encroachment on cultivable or non-cultivable government land (grazing land, burial grounds, etc.). It is handed over to the tehsildar to pursue under OPLE.

The disallowed category also includes cases in which, after filing the initial objection, the concerned party fails to pursue their claim. Such cases arise most often over jointly-held property where the opposing claimants are brothers who later resolve the dispute by agreement. However, once an objection is filed, it cannot be withdrawn. It has to be investigated by the _amin_ by interviewing witnesses near the plot. Women are rarely interviewed as witnesses.

Settlement officials claim that objections usually arise out of oversight on about 10-11 percent of the cases handled by the settlement camp. Focus-group discussions with villagers in Badavema village reveals an altogether different picture. Their perceptions are summarised in Box 7.

At any given time, settlement operation take place in about 4,000 of the approximately 55,000 villages in Orissa. Revisional surveys may be thought of as a stock-taking exercise. In a single operation spanning over 5-7 years, the area is re-surveyed, all land records updated, and land revenue reassessed for a number of villages within the circle of a police station. Settlement department officials perceive their role as providing a 'door-step service free of charge' to the villagers as the latter are spared the effort of going to the subregistrar's office, paying stamp duty and all other, unofficial transaction costs required to register the sale deed, and can have their rights recorded immediately in ROR on presentation of the sale deed without having to apply for mutation. That is, settlement combines the _registration of deeds_ (discussed in section 4.1.1) with the _issuingof land title (mutation)_ (discussed in section 4.1.2). Consequently, many land purchasers prefer to wait for the settlement operation to register the transaction.

At the same time, the settlement operation:

- _is_ **_inefficient and slow_** - takes 5-7 years to complete settlement in 15-20 villages, and may not be revised for a further 30 years. In Digpandhi, Ganjam district, one recently completed settlement operation was conducted some 50 years after the previous settlement operation;

-

- * provides an **_opportunity for rent-seeking_** by government officials who perceive themselves as providing a service which commands a price;

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