Curation Team
BENGALURU: In a major push towards transparency and protection of land rights, the state revenue department has digitised over 32 crore pages of land records across the state under its ambitious Bhu Suraksha initiative. The scheme, aimed at creating tamper-proof, accessible digital land documents, is expected to cover over 100 crore pages by Dec.
With the distribution of the digitised documents already underway, the department said the scanning and storage process is being conducted securely to prevent illegal alterations. Officials believe the project will not only safeguard property rights but also eliminate common malpractices in the land documentation system.
“For decades, we relied on fragile physical files stored in taluk and district record rooms. They are difficult to retrieve and prone to wear, errors, and even losses. Recognising these issues, we launched Bhu Suraksha to transform land record management,” said a senior revenue official.
Revenue minister Krishna Byre Gowda, who recently reviewed the scheme’s progress, directed all deputy commissioners and tehsildars to ensure its effective implementation.
During another review meeting Friday, the minister warned of disciplinary action against officials delaying the digitisation process.
Revenue commissioner P Sunil Kumar told TOI: “We already scanned and digitally stored over 32 crore pages of documents. And we estimate that there are over 100 crore pages of records, and all the pages will be scanned and stored safely soon.”
He added that during the minister’s inspection of record rooms, officials flagged the many challenges involved in protecting physical land documents. This reinforced the department’s decision to scan and secure them digitally.
Officials said that in the past, retrieving a single document often required tedious manual searches. “Now, Bhu Suraksha drastically reduces time and effort for both officials and citizens,” said one officer. “The digitised records are encrypted, tamper-proof, and come with audit trails to log every access or update.”
To ensure accuracy, the department has adopted a multi-tier verification system. Data entered by data entry operators is checked by shirastedars, with random audits by tahsildars.
Digitisation efforts are in full swing across all 31 districts. At least 14 districts have digitised over 1 crore pages each, with Belagavi topping the list with more than 2 crore pages scanned.
