6 districts may not fall under e-swathu, says minister

The Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department (RDPR) has exempted six districts, spread over Malnad and coastal regions, from the e-swathu scheme.

RDPR Minister H K Patil said on Wednesday that the districts exempted from the e-swathu scheme - electronic maintenance of land records and properties by local bodies- are Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru and Kodagu.

It is not possible to maintain details using e-swathu because land records and ownership of land are not uniform in these districts.

There was no system of land conversion for constructing houses and there are many houses which have come up in forests. Hence, it is not possible to record the details of properties using e-swathu, he added.

Legislators and politicians hailing from the Malnad and parts of the coastal districts have been up against the displacement of those who are residing in forest areas.

The government is in the process of removing encroachments from forests. The State government will now have to submit a petition in the Supreme Court seeking exemption to have land records in these districts.