Bribes and lost lands: Why Karnataka must reform its revenue department

Karnataka revenue minister Krishna Byre Gowda’s candid acknowledgement of his helplessness in curbing corruption at the lower levels in his department (DH, Dec 19) is noteworthy. During the Belagavi Assembly Session, he was responding to Congress MLC Ramoji Gowda’s concerns about the delay in issuing phodi extracts to farmers. The issue of phodi extracts remains a significant problem for farmers, and it is a major source of corruption. Corruption is rampant at all levels of the revenue department, with lower-level corruption forming the foundation of the problem. Higher-level officials benefit from this corruption, which is evident from the experiences of farmers in the state. This has led to a widespread perception that the department is beyond reform.

Owners of grant lands are particularly vulnerable cheated through deliberate misrepresentation of records, unexplained delays, and an opaque bureaucratic procedure called “1 to 5.” Lower-level Nada Kacheri officials, responsible for processing phodi, use this as a tool to harass genuine farmers. Higher officials, complicit in this harassment, benefit illegally. The issuing of phodi for grant landowners is a huge source of corruption, with bribes amounting to lakhs, possibly crores, of rupees. These illegal gains are systematically shared from the bottom to the top.

Even when phodi has been granted and the statutory period barring land sales has passed, officials arbitrarily remove the phodi from records, forcing farmers to pay hefty bribes to reinstate it. Agents often step in, converting farmlands to real estate to generate funds for bribes, since poor farmers cannot afford the costs. As a result, farming lands are slowly lost to real estate.

No accurate information is available in the public domain regarding lands with phodi or subdivisions with separate survey numbers for each district. In many districts, hundreds of acres remain without phodi, particularly grant lands, providing fertile ground for large-scale corruption. Most southern states have completed sub-division (phodi) and standardised land revenue terminology in local languages. Karnataka, however, continues to lag behind.

With 64% of Karnataka’s geographical area under cultivation, the lack of urgent reforms in land administration leaves farmers—and the state’s land and water resources—vulnerable to an entrenched nexus of land mafias and lower-level officials. Local water bodies are encroached upon, rajakaluves are bulldozed, and natural assets are destroyed, all with official complicity. Damage to local water bodies increases dependence on bore wells, resulting in an unmanageable groundwater crisis.

District Commissioners rarely become aware of the destruction, as lower-level officials work hand-in-glove with land mafias. Even if a DC does intervene, their tenure is typically limited to two years, while a tahsildar, a DDLR, or ADLR serves for three years. In contrast, Nada Kacheri officials often remain in the same location for decades, forming long-term corrupt alliances with local land mafias. Farmers’ personal experiences suggest that assistant commissioners and additional deputy commissioners often play a key role in perpetuating corruption within the land revenue department.

Current procedures are opaque, with officials hoarding documents and repeatedly demanding additional paperwork from illiterate farmers to regularise their land records. There are no clear, transparent procedures in the public domain, nor accountability mechanisms for officials. Farmers struggle for years—sometimes indefinitely—to have their land records regularised unless they bribe officials, starting from the lowest levels.

Surveyors, operating without standard operating procedures (SOPs), often wield unchecked power, arbitrarily determining land ownership and cheating illiterate farmers. Together, they form the main conduit for corruption at higher levels. In a war of attrition, revenue officials grind farmers to abject powerlessness, forcing them to rely on agents to navigate the bribe-heavy system. This ultimately results in farmers losing their lands to real estate land mafias. Local politicians are also happy with such arrangements. 

Corruption is deeply linked to social and economic inequity. Without addressing inequity, any discussion on tackling corruption remains an excuse to avoid systemic change. Preventing corruption is critical to ensuring equity. However, it is a vicious circle—rising inequity feeds corruption, which in turn strengthens the corrupt system, further deepening inequity. Those who can afford bribes unfairly benefit, while those who cannot are victimised and punished.

The revenue minister frequently emphasises the need for pro-people reforms and increased use of technology. While technology can aid governance, it is not a solution in itself. True reform must go beyond ‘land management’ and address human resources management in the revenue department, especially at the lower levels. The department needs to weed out redundant and corrupt staff.

Transparent, corruption-free land administration will remain a distant dream unless broader departmental and administrative reforms address governance at the grassroots. Corruption and maladministration at the lower levels, though often invisible, devastate farmers’ lives and jeopardise the state’s critical land and water resources. This silent, ongoing crisis is eroding Karnataka’s long-term sustainability.

Reforming land governance in Karnataka needs innovative solutions. Establishing a Land and Water Resources Institute could help shift the focus beyond routine administration to long-term monitoring and management of land and water issues. Such an institution could also serve as a platform for inclusive policy making, incorporating inputs from farmers’ organisations, academia, and civil society.

(The writer is an environmental economist and a former member of the Karnataka State Appellate Authority under the Air and Water Act)