Housing patta process of couple with HIV revived after 12 years in Namakkal

CHENNAI: The 12-year long-pending patta request of an HIV-positive couple in Namakkal is now under process, with the district administration confirming that it’s being considered under the ongoing urban housing patta scheme.

Namakkal District Collector Uma told DT Next that the former District Revenue Officer had rejected the application citing a government ban on issuing new housing pattas within 16 km of district headquarters.

“Now, this is being considered under the ongoing scheme for regularising urban housing pattas. The current DRO has inspected the site, and the process will be fulfilled at the earliest,” she said.

As reported earlier by DT Next, the couple, both daily wage workers raising two children, had been living on a land parcel in Vasanthapuram since 2013. They claimed they were among around 20 families who were given land in 2013 under the special intervention of then District Collector U Sagayam.

While the family has electricity and water connections and pays regular bills, the official patta has been pending for over a decade. In 2023, the file was stalled again due to the land being classified as barren rocky terrain. The Geology and Mining Department later cleared the land, stating it contained no valuable minerals and could be classified as Grama Natham. But despite multiple follow-ups, the patta didn’t come through.

Now, the case has been brought under the one-time regularisation scheme announced by the State government in February 2025. The scheme allows pattas for families occupying unobjectionable government land in urban areas and will be in force till December 31.

The Collector added that the administration was also looking into regularisation of over 8,000 housing pattas in the district under the same scheme.