Davanagere district has positioned itself as a leader in the state’s Bhoosuraksha digital land records initiative, having distributed 13,040 digital land record pages to its residents — the highest number in the state.
As stated by deputy commissioner GM Gangadharaswamy, six taluk offices have demonstrated significant public engagement by offering online access to ‘pahani’ and mutation records. Following Davanagere are Belagavi with 7,821 pages and Koppal with 7,247 pages. Once referred to as the ‘Manchester of Karnataka’ due to its cotton mills, Davanagere now leads in the distribution of revenue documents.
In contrast, Bengaluru Urban has issued only 27 pages. Since February 2024, the revenue department has processed 1.1 crore historical land documents statewide, with Davanagere taluk alone digitising 52.8 lakh pages. The initiative’s expansion to five additional taluks starting January 1, 2025, has added 60.3 lakh more pages.
The digitisation project encompasses ‘pahani’, mutation documents, and departmental ‘A’ and ‘B’ records. Each taluk holds approximately 1 crore pages of historical records. Currently, 9,000 pages are processed each day, resulting in a monthly total of 10 lakh pages, with completion anticipated by December. The public can access these digital records via the revenue department’s website for Rs 8 per page.
This online system eliminates the need for physical visits and facilitates quasi-judicial revenue proceedings. The administration has finalised over 2,000 subdivisions and prioritised survey work. Officials have noted advancements in e-Swathu distribution despite facing staff shortages.
The revenue department has transitioned to a paperless system at all administrative levels, ranging from village administrators to district commissioners. This initiative includes computerized land records, modern record rooms in taluks, a state database, Aadhaar integration, computerized revenue courts, and synchronized land records.
The project is designed to facilitate online access to land records, thereby alleviating the workload on revenue offices and promoting transparency within the revenue department, stated a revenue officer. Citizens can now log into the Bhoosuraksha website, register, and obtain scanned records by paying a fee similar to that of RTC.
If a document has not been scanned or digitally signed, a request will be initiated, and it will be available within seven days. Furthermore, it is important to note that citizens can access documents from all districts. Therefore, if an individual owns land in a different district, they can access it online, remarked DC Gangadharaswamy.
