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Project Name: Bhoomi
Initiated by: Karnataka State Govt.
Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) movement in rural villages of Rajasthan inspired the Karnataka State Government to launch a project called Bhoomi in mid-1999, which aimed to digitise land and revenue records. The Department of Revenue in Karnataka State has digitized 20 million rural land records of 6.7 million landowners through 177 government-owned and internet-enabled kiosks in the state. Through this project, farmers and landowners are able to receive their records by providing data such as ownership, tenancy, loans, nature of title, irrigation details, crops grown, etc. This small initiative helped farmers in many ways, from documenting crop loans and legal actions, to securing scholarships for school children.
Previously, farmers had to seek out the Village Accountant to get a copy of Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops (RTC), a document needed for many tasks such as such as obtaining bank loans. There were delays and harassment. Bribes had to be paid. Today, for a fee of INR 15, a printed copy of the RTC can be obtained online at computerised land record kiosks (Bhoomi centers) in 177 taluk offices. This system works with the software called “BHOOMI” designed fully in-house by National Informatics Center, Bangalore.
This project impacted on the whole country, leading the central government to initiate a national-level Digitisation of Land Records project. The state governments involved include Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Under this initiative, landowners are able to access digitised copies of records of rights, along with property boundaries.