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Maharashtra News : Farmers are facing a dilemma due to the new decision of the government. The government has made an important change in the rules for buying and selling farm land and this change is affecting the farmers a lot.

If the agricultural land is to be converted into non-agricultural i.e. NA or if the land is to be sold, the farmers have to obtain a No Objection Certificate from the Land Acquisition Department.

But this no objection certificate has increased the headache of farmers in Nashik district. The process of obtaining ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC) from Land Acquisition Department in Nashik has become more complicated and time consuming.

Due to this, the farmers are suffering a lot. Earlier, through the online portal ‘Nashik Mitra’ of the Collectorate, the farmers were getting this certificate from the Land Acquisition Department within a few minutes.

But now farmers have to wait three-four months for this NOC. Because now all documents are available through e-office system. But due to this, now the farmers have to wait for two to three months to get the no objection certificate.

The important thing is that there are some cases in the district in which this period reaches four to five months. In the earlier system, the applicant could download the certificate from home.

This facility proved to be very useful for the farmers as it saves a lot of time, money and labour. However, after the sudden closure of this service and implementation of the e-office system, the entire process has slowed down.

Although the official deadline for issuing NOC is 15 days as per rules, in reality farmers have to wait for months. Due to this delay, land purchase and sale transactions get stuck.

Stoppage of transactions disrupts the financial planning of farmers and increases the psychological stress of buyers and sellers. Land transactions in the market have also slowed down due to pending cases.

While applying for NOC various documents such as Affidavit, Quadrilateral Map, Seventh Twelve Transcript and Consolidation Transcript have to be uploaded online. After the application goes through the e-office, it is distributed to the eight land acquisition offices in the district.

The Talathi and Mandal officers concerned then investigate whether there is any dispute, possession or other action pending in relation to land transactions in the village. After all the checks are completed the approval of the Special Land Acquisition Officer is obtained and the final NOC is issued.

As it is now mandatory to obtain NOC for sale and purchase of land or non-agricultural land, once this process stops, the whole transaction gets stuck. Due to this, a huge burden of extra cost, loss of time, paperwork and heartache is falling on the farmers.

Although e-office has made the process more disciplined, its speed has slowed down drastically, prompting farmers’ organizations to intensify their demand for speeding it up. If the administration does not take immediate measures, it is feared that the land transaction will be further stalled.