Post offices to sell stamp papers

The State Government plans to sell stamp papers for registration of property through post offices and cooperative banks as well.

Minister for Revenue Jagadish Shettar told presspersons here on Tuesday that at present State Bank of India and State Bank of Mysore were authorised to market stamp papers. But availability was limited to the 160 branches of the two banks in the State. Hence, the move to bring post offices and cooperative banks into the picture. The department had also decided to allow other nationalised banks to sell stamp papers.

Mr. Shettar said one-rupee revenue stamps would also be sold through post offices for which a notification had been issued. This would prevent black-marketing of revenue stamps, which was rampant in the State.

After the multi-crore stamp paper scam came to light in 2002-03, the Government stopped purchasing revenue stamps from the Indian Security Press at Nasik. Private vendors began buying stamps from neighbouring States and selling them at a higher rate.

The Minister said the department had set a target to collect Rs. 3,170 crore from stamps and registration in 2006-07. Revenue collection had gone up with the increase in guidance value and lifting of the ban on registration of property in and around Bangalore.

The guidance value was being revised once in six months. Nearly 60 per cent of the revenue was from Bangalore Urban and Rural districts.

As many as 4.65 lakh applications were pending with the department for title deeds for 14.47 lakh acres of bagair hukum (unauthorised) land being cultivated by farmers. Over 5.5. lakh applications had been disposed of, he said.

Deputy Commissioners had been instructed to survey gomal land in the districts. Based on the requirement of such land for fodder, committees headed by legislators would issue title deeds to unauthorised cultivators, mainly in Chikmagalur, Shimoga, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts, he said.