BENGALURU: Revenue minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Monday said that govt has initiated integration of ekhatas for all properties, including those under grama thana (revenue) and Ashraya housing schemes. The move aims to curb illegal registration of agricultural land, especially in high-value areas like Bengaluru and district headquarters.
Byre Gowda was replying in the assembly to allegations by BJP’s SR Vishwanath, who accused sub-registrars of colluding with land sharks to illegally register agricultural land as residential and commercial plots.
Vishwanath said some 150 properties are illegally registered every day, with around Rs 30,000 collected for each registration. “It means, Rs 30-35 lakh is being collected every day. Who is behind this?” Vishwanath asked. “In the last session, the govt promised to curb this menace but no action has been taken.”
Byre Gowda acknowledged ongoing illegal activity at sub-registrar offices and pointed out a bill was passed in the previous session to amend the law to stop such practices. “The bill is awaiting the president’s assent,” he said. “Once the law comes into force, such transactions cannot happen. Also, we are in the process of integrating e-khatas of all properties which will make it difficult to mask land use status.”
He also addressed demands from members across party lines to extend the deadline to submit applications under Sections 94C and 94CC, which seek to regularise houses built on govt land, especially gomal. He declined the extension, saying the deadline has already been extended five times over the past eight years.
Meanwhile, Byre Gowda discussed the issue of Kumki land (govt land adjacent to private agricultural land) which several MLAs suggested should be sanctioned to those who are already utilising them. He said existing laws do not allow transfer of these lands to private individuals and that a cabinet subcommittee formed during the previous BJP govt had arrived at a similar conclusion.
“So, we are in the process of verifying whether there is a provision to provide these parcels of land on lease,” the minister said.
