Land records to be computerised by year-end

By Our Staff Reporter BANGALORE, JULY 13. The Chief Minister, Mr. S. M. Krishna, said here on Friday that land records in all the 175 taluks in the State would be computerised by the year-end.

At the launch of computerised land records and touch- screen kiosks in Bangalore south taluk, he said the programme on computerisation of land records was now being taken up in 70 taluks. Sakleshpur taluk was the first in the country to take up computerisation of land records. Koppal District had the distinction of having all the land records computerised. These two achievements showcased the State's progress in information technology.

Bangalore, he said, had emerged as one of the leading technological hubs in the world and this achievement was made possible by the sustained efforts of the State Government in the past two years. Mr. Krishna commended the Centre for fully funding the land-record computerisation programme in Bangalore south taluk. Suggesting that information technology be made a national programme, he said this would help solve several problems of the farmers.

He said the farmers had been forced to visit various offices for land records. The Government had conceived the programme to save them from harassment. Now, computers would help them obtain the records at a cost of Rs. 15.

The Union Minister for Rural Development, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu, said the Centre was in the process of coming up with a national- level programme for regeneration of traditional water systems.

Silting had affected many of them and decreased their capacity to store water. He called upon the farmers to restore the ponds in rural areas.

Appreciating the touch-screen kiosk, which would provide information to the farmers, Mr. Naidu promised to fund the installation of such screens in a taluk in each district.

He said the kiosk, apart from giving information on land records, could provide farmers details about the market. This would help them market their produce more efficiently.

The computerisation of land records was totally funded by the Centre and so far 2,383 taluks had benefited from it in the country. The Centre had so far spent Rs. 190 crores on the project. He said the Union and State governments could join hands to provide godowns and cold storage facilities to farmers.

He said a national model of `Pattedar pass books' had been developed by the Centre and it was being circulated to the States for ascertaining their view. The Centre wanted to computerise records of banks and insurance companies also, he added.

The Minister for Revenue, Mr. H. C. Srikantaiah, said harassment by village accountants and other officials would end if the land records were computerised fully. Mr. Rajiv Chawla, an official of the Revenue Department, said it had been taken up at Arsikodlu village a year ago. Sixty lakhs of the 200 lakhs revenue documents had already been computerised.

By October, the land records in all the districts would be computerised.

The Minister for Sugar and Animal Husbandry, Mr. A. Krishnappa, and the Deputy Commissioner (Bangalore Urban), Mr. D. S. Ashwath, spoke.

The Minister of State for Information and Publicity, Mr. B. K. Chandrashekar, and the former MP, Mr. Chandrashekara Murthy, were present.

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