Payment in Owner-Occupied (Malik Makbuza) and Nistar Forestry Cases

What is payment in an owner-occupied or nistar forestry case?

Payment in an owner-occupied case is a Madhya Pradesh Forest Department service under which a private landowner is paid for timber that grew on that person's own land, was felled under a departmental marking order, and was then received into a government timber depot. In older Madhya Pradesh revenue language the holding is called Malik Makbuza land, land in private possession as opposed to forest or government land, and the file that follows the timber from the field to the depot is still called a Malik Makbuza case. Nistar cases sit next to them in the same notification: nistar is the customary right of villagers to take specified quantities of timber, bamboo and fuelwood from designated areas, recorded village-by-village in the nistar patrak prepared under the Madhya Pradesh Land Revenue Code, 1959.

The Forest Department of Madhya Pradesh treats both categories as a notified public service. That is the important point for a landowner: the payment is not discretionary and it is not open-ended. It carries a statutory clock under the Madhya Pradesh Lok Seva Pradan Ki Guarantee Adhiniyam, 2010, with a designated officer who must settle within a fixed number of working days and an appellate officer above him if he does not.

Teak and sal make up the bulk of these cases. A Forest Department notification dated 14 October 2021 specified sal (Shorea robusta) and teak (Tectona grandis) as specified forest produce for the whole state, which is why timber of these two species from private land is routed through the departmental depot system rather than sold freely at the farm gate.

Who can claim payment in an owner-occupied case?

You can claim if:

• You are the recorded owner of private land in Madhya Pradesh on which the trees stood, and the khasra or B-1 entry is in your name.
• The trees were felled under a marking order or felling permission issued by the Divisional Forest Officer or the Range Officer.
• The timber has actually been received into a government depot, and you hold the depot receipt (aavak parchi) recording species, number of pieces and volume.
• You have chosen one of the two settlement options: sale at the government notified rate, or sale of your wood as a separate lot at auction.
• You are the legal heir of a deceased landowner and can produce a succession or heir certificate.

You are not eligible if:

• The trees stood on government, forest or revenue land rather than on land recorded in your name. Trees on forest land belong to the state, and no owner payment arises.
• The felling was done without a marking order, in which case the timber is liable to seizure as an offence case under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 and the Madhya Pradesh Transit (Forest Produce) Rules, rather than paid for.
• The timber never reached a government depot, for example, it was sold privately or is still lying at the field.
• You are a contractor or purchaser rather than the landowner. The payment is made to the recorded owner of the land, not to whoever transported or bought the wood.

Tenants, lessees and possessors without a recorded title cannot claim payment in their own name; the department settles with the person shown as owner on the revenue record, and internal disputes have to be sorted out in the revenue court first.

How much money does the Forest Department pay?

Madhya Pradesh does not publish a single flat benefit figure for this service, because the amount is not a subsidy. It is the value of your own timber. Two routes decide the number:

1. Sale at the government notified rate. The Forest Department maintains species-wise and grade-wise notified rates for timber received at its depots. Your wood is measured, classed and paid for at that schedule. This route is predictable and does not depend on how an auction goes.
2. Sale as a separate lot. Your timber is kept as its own lot and auctioned at the depot. You receive the realised sale value after the department has recovered the full price from the purchaser. This route can pay more than the notified rate when the market is strong, and less when it is weak.

Notified handling, transport, measurement and sale charges are deducted from the gross realisation in either route before the balance is released to the landowner's bank account.

How to apply for payment in an owner-occupied or nistar case

1. Obtain felling permission from the Divisional Forest Officer or the Range Officer before any tree is cut. The department marks the trees and issues the order that later links your wood to your land record.
2. Deliver the felled timber to the notified government depot for your area. Insist on the depot receipt (aavak parchi) at the time of delivery — it records species, number of pieces and volume, and no claim can be processed without it.
3. Choose your settlement option in writing; either sale at the government notified rate, or sale of your wood as a separate auction lot. Record the choice at the time of deposit, because the two options carry different statutory time limits.
4. File the payment application at the divisional forest office, attaching the depot receipt, the felling or marking order, the khasra or B-1 land record, a copy of the bank passbook and your Aadhaar card. Where the original owner has died, attach the legal heir certificate; where a separate lot was created, attach the contract or sale letter.
5. Collect the acknowledgement carrying the date of receipt. The statutory clock runs from the date the timber reached the depot, so keep both dates on record.
6. Follow up with the Divisional Forest Officer if the amount has not reached your account within the notified period, and then file a first appeal.

The service is also listed on the Madhya Pradesh Lok Seva Guarantee portal (mpedistrict.gov.in), which is the place to verify the current designated and appellate officers for your district before you send a reminder or an appeal.

How long should the payment take?

The Lok Seva Guarantee notification for the Forest Department fixes two separate limits for this service:

• 45 working days from the date the timber is received at the government depot, where the landowner opted for sale at the government rate.
• 30 working days from the date of full recovery of the sale price, where the timber was sold as a separate lot.

Both limits count working days, not calendar days, so a case filed just before a festival break will run longer on the calendar than the number suggests.

Why owner-occupied payment cases get delayed or rejected

• Depot receipt missing or illegible. This is the single most common cause. Without the aavak parchi the department cannot connect the wood at the depot to your land.
• Name mismatch between the land record and the bank account. The khasra entry, the Aadhaar card and the passbook must carry the same name; a transliteration difference is enough to hold up the transfer.
• Felling done outside the marking order, more trees cut than marked, or a species not covered. The excess is treated as an offence case and is not paid for.
• Succession not settled. Where the recorded owner has died and the heirs have not obtained a legal heir certificate, the file waits.
• Separate lot not fully realised. Where the auction purchaser has not paid the department in full, the 30-working-day clock for the landowner has not yet started.

Fixing most of these is a matter of paperwork rather than of policy. Get a duplicate depot receipt from the depot in-charge, correct the name spelling on the bank record, or file the succession certificate, and the case moves.

Where to complain if the payment does not come

• First step: written reminder to the Divisional Forest Officer, the designated officer for the service, quoting the depot receipt number and the date of deposit.
• Second step: first appeal under the Lok Seva Guarantee Act to the appellate officer notified for the Forest Department, normally the Conservator of Forests of the circle. The Act provides for a penalty on the designated officer where delay is found to be without sufficient cause.
• Third step: a complaint on the CM Helpline grievance system, and for general departmental correspondence the Forest Department headquarters at Satpura Bhawan, Bhopal, whose scheme and service pages are published at mpforest.gov.in.

Payment in an owner-occupied case is a right attached to your own property, not a welfare grant. No agent is needed to obtain it, and no fee is payable to any individual for pushing the file.