Gowda said pendency beyond 90 days will invite action, noting that delays hurt the public and the government’s image.
He flagged poor progress in podi work and warned officials over slow digitisation of land records despite resources being provided.
Of 100 crore land record pages, 37.6 crore have been scanned; the minister set December-end as deadline to finish digitisation.
Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda warned tahsildars who failed to dispose of cases that come to court in 90 days that disciplinary action to be taken against them on Monday.
The Minister told the tahsildars in a virtual meeting, “On average, cases used to be disposed of in 212 days. This has been reduced to an average of 82 days in the last two years. However, this process has slackened recently, which is not acceptable.”
According to The Hindu, he added that it is vital to dispose of cases in a timely manner for the public. He said, “Though some tahsildars were efficient, some are being irresponsible. This is bringing a bad name to the government, and people are forced to visit the tahsildar's office every day. Any case being kept for over 90 days will attract disciplinary action.”
Gowda expressed displeasure over the podi work not gaining pace despite the launch of a state-wide campaign. “Though the State government has approved the grant of land to poor farmers decades ago, the podi work could not be done, leaving lakhs of farmers in distress. In Dakshina Kannada and Tumakuru, podi work has seen progress, which, however, is not the case with other districts.”
The Hindu reported that he warned tahsildars who have not worked towards the digitisation of land records, with a threat of notice.
Gowda said that against a target of scanning 6,000 pages a day, some offices were not even scanning 2,000 pages despite the government providing scanners, computers and data entry operators.
“In strong rooms in tahsildars’ offices across Karnataka, it is estimated that about 100 crore pages of land records are stacked. Of these, 37.6 crore pages have been scanned. About 6.32 lakh pages have been uploaded in the public domain after ascertaining the veracity of land records.”
He gave officials till the end of the year to finish the digitisations.
The Minister stated that pouti khatha has been carried out in favour of the heirs in roughly 3.35 lakh cases, pointing out that 52 lakh land holdings remain in the names of deceased farmers.
The Hindu reported that Gowda said, “However, we are not happy with the progress. The Centre has issued directions on PM Kisan, drip irrigation, and vehicle subsidy to those land holdings that are still in the name of the deceased. Farmers will be affected.”
