The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) is keeping an eye on the government's plan to allow farmers to convert their Sor Por Kor 4-01 papers into land title deeds.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the anti-graft agency said it has set up a panel to study the scheme, along with Pheu Thai's flagship campaign policy to give out 10,000 baht in digital cash to all Thais aged 16 and older.
The panel tasked with monitoring the scheme, which will be implemented by the Agricultural Land Reform Committee (ALRC), is headed by NACC member Suwana Suwanjuta.
NACC's graft monitoring department is gathering facts about the policy and plans to invite the ALRC secretary-general to explain it in further detail, according to the statement.
The land document conversion scheme came to the NACC's attention after an Oct 12 meeting of the ALRC chaired by Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Capt Thamanat Prompow.
In the meeting, the ALRC agreed in principle to allow some 1,628,520 Sor Por Kor 4-01 land document holders to convert their papers into title deeds, covering more than 22 million rai.
According to Capt Thamanat, the first batch of land title deeds would be given to farmers by Jan 15 as a New Year gift, while the provincial agricultural land reform offices are expected to issue title deeds to all farmers across the country within a year.
The Sor Por Kor 4-01 land reform papers were introduced in 1975 to give poor landless farmers plots for small-scale farming.
Such plots cannot be sold and can only be transferred to the children or heirs of the holders. But over the years, many plots have illegally changed hands.
The new policy is designed to help farmers who want to sell their land. Once the papers are swapped, the land can be sold to other parties.
However, some conditions still apply -- for instance, those wishing to get a title deed must have held their Sor Por Kor plot for at least five years. Converted title holders must also plant a certain number of trees as required by ALRC.