Karnataka govt moots takeover of land gifted for schools, colleges

Bengaluru: The state government will soon enact a law to formally take over immovable properties where a government educational institution has existed for at least 12 years, despite having no registered documents of transfer.

Through the Karnataka Government Educational Institution (Protection and Regularisation) Bill, 2026, the government aims to prevent “stale claims or legal proceedings against such lands beyond a 12-year period of undisputed use.”

The Bill, drafted by the Department of School Education and Literacy, is expected to be tabled in the ongoing Budget session of the legislature.

As per the Bill, the land will belong to the government even if the donor has passed away, and provisions of the Transfer of Property Act, 1982, are not followed.

The statement of objects and reasons of the Bill notes that government educational institutions established and functioning on lands donated by individuals and families without proper formal documentation are facing litigation due to claims by their legal heirs.

“Presently, there exists no dedicated legislation to protect such lands or validate informal gifts made for public education. Existing legal frameworks do not adequately address long-standing, open and settled use of land for government educational institutions. This has left thousands of institutions vulnerable to disruption and placed State infrastructure and public investments at legal risk,” the Bill notes.

The Bill seeks to coordinate with relevant departments, including those administering forest, Wakf, tribal and religious institution lands, to ensure lawful regularisation and protection of government educational institution lands.

Grievance redressal

However, the provisions in the Bill are not absolute. The Bill mandates the formation of a grievance redressal authority. The Revenue Court constituted under the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964, will serve as the grievance redressal authority.  

Anyone with a registered title document, or who can prove with documentary evidence that the land was never voluntarily given for government educational institution use, can file a claim within 30 days of commencement of the Act.

Further, anyone aggrieved by the authority’s decision can appeal to the Karnataka Appellate Tribunal.
As per the Bill, the Block Education Officer (BEO) and the Deputy Director of Pre-University Education (DDPU) are the estate officers who shall make relevant records available for inspection by other related departments.

According to sources, many properties of the Education Department are now entangled in real estate disputes, since historically the best lands in prime locations have been donated for education purposes.

“Several philanthropists, especially in the aftermath of the Land Reforms movement, have provided land for education purposes. However, the department has historically not been very diligent in converting the lands to its name. These are lands vested for a particular purpose which has been utilised for that purpose but the records are not in the department’s name,” a source said.

Since the department is sitting on large tracts of land, land grab is being orchestrated through overt and covert “interventions,” especially in Bengaluru. Through this move, the department will be more diligent, take action to protect the land and address the chain of litigation present across the state.”

The source also explained that the department intends to increase the strength in government schools (through bilingual and monograde system) in a few years, when a law protecting government school land will be crucial and secure the future of public education.