123 crore pages of Karnataka revenue records to be digitised

The government has already computerised records of rights, tenancy and crops or pahani from 2001 onwards

There is a reason why the Revenue Department is known as the “mother of all departments”. What else can explain 2.38 crore files and registers lying in its offices across the state?

Now, the government is looking into a proposal costing Rs 124 crore to scan and digitise each one of these files and registers — most of them pertaining to land — in order to preserve them. They are in the offices of tahsildars and assistant commissioners.

Approximately, 123 crore pages of these revenue records will be scanned in order to prevent their destruction, if the government approves the project. It is estimated that it would cost Re 1 to scan each page.

“The government has received a proposal costing Rs 124 crore to computerise, scan and digitise title documents in various revenue department offices. The proposal is under examination,” Revenue Minister R Ashoka said in a written reply in the Assembly.

The government has already computerised records of rights, tenancy and crops (RTC) or pahani from 2001 onwards, Ashoka added.

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Authorities say scanning the files is important not only to preserve them, but also prevent creation of fake documents, which is the most common form of fraud in land transactions.

In his proposal to the government, Commissioner of Survey, Settlement & Land Records Munish Moudgil said most of the receipts in the revenue department are to do with farmers’ lands, making it “inevitable” for records to be digitised. DH has accessed the proposal.

So far, authorities have finished cataloguing and indexing 1.91 crore files and 7.63 lakh registers. But many are not catalogued and indexed.

“Scanning preserves records and makes them readily available. Also, citizens can get them online,” Moudgil told DH.

Once approved, the Revenue Department will join the list of other departments that have taken up similar projects to preserve records.

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