RDPR dept to kickstart drive to collect tax for 90 lakh properties in Gram Panchayats

Bengaluru: The Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department on Monday decided to kickstart the drive to collect property tax from all 90 lakh properties that fall under Gram Panchayat (GP) limits.

According to a statement released by his department, RDPR Minister Priyank Kharge held a meeting with officials concerned to expedite the process of registering the 90 lakh properties under E-Swathu portal.  

Priyank directed the officials not to give permission to develop new layouts in GP areas till the E-Swathu registration process was completed. 

Forgery complaints

He said the department was receiving several complaints about forgeries in transactions related to land and property deals across rural areas. Therefore, the department must adopt stringent measures to curb such illegal transactions, he said. 

The E-Swathu scheme was introduced by the stamps and registration department to cut down forgeries in transactions related to land and property and to regulate registrations of plots/properties in unauthorised layouts.

The E-Swathu portal is used to maintain the latest records of ownership and physical details of properties under each GP and update details in case of transfer of ownership, gift, inheritance, acquisition of land for government projects, court cases, liabilities, restrictions, etc.

The statement said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah held a review meeting of urban development, stamps and registration, RDPR and municipal administration on January 6. 

At this meeting, the CM had directed the RDPR department to expedite the process of registering properties under E-Swathu portal. 

“As per the directions, additional chief secretary Uma Mahadevan must issue suitable instructions to chief executive officers of zilla panchayat and executive officers of taluk panchayats to expedite the registration of properties under E-Swathu and kick start the drive to collect property taxes as well,” the statement read.