Mangaluru: In line with a Supreme Court order, a district-level special investigation team (SIT) will be formed to identify and report forest and revenue land, revenue minister Krishna Byre Gowda said Saturday.He was speaking after inaugurating Mulki taluk administration centre, ‘Praja Soudha’.The issue of forest and revenue land has persisted for several years, and the govt is seriously considering the difficulties faced by farmers, Gowda said. A joint survey is under way to differentiate forest and revenue land on land earlier allotted to farmers, and all DCs have been instructed to act swiftly, he added.Despite land being sanctioned, farmers faced problems for years due to the lack of plotting, the minister said. “The govt is now stepping forward to provide plotting. From 2018 to 2023, as many as 1,948 people in the district were provided plotting, and in the last two years, 60,943 people received plotting. Among them, 23,620 farmers were issued title deeds,” he said.On regularisation of house sites under sections 94C and 94CC, Gowda said 2.2 lakh people had been issued title deeds so far. Under the e-Pauti campaign to transfer land in the names of heirs of deceased owners, 60,000 heirs were registered.He said a campaign reduced cases pending for over two years in tehsildar courts from 10,774 to 130. In assistant commissioner courts, such cases were brought down from 73,624 to 2,299.All land-related records can now be accessed online round the clock through computers and mobile devices, the minister said, adding that about 73 crore pages of revenue records were scanned in taluk offices across the state over the last two years.Rs 1.6 crore for Praja Soudha“To bring administration closer to the people and instil a sense of public service among officials, taluk administrative offices have been named ‘Praja Soudha’. An additional Rs 1.60 crore has been sanctioned for a compound and other necessary facilities at the Mulki Praja Soudha,” Gowda said.Health and Family Welfare and Dakshina Kannada district minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said a Global Capability Centre (GCC) had been announced for the district, and action would be taken soon.“Agreements are being made with three private medical colleges in the district to provide better clinical services in Moodbidri, Bantwal, Vitla and Belthangady taluk hospitals. This will result in more doctors and nursing services in these hospitals,” Rao said.Dakshina Kannada MP Capt. Brijesh Chowta urged the revenue minister to resolve the forest-revenue land issue in Puttur, Sullia, Kadaba and Belthangady taluks. He said approval had been granted for the development of the national highway from Talapady to Kundapur and for the construction of service roads on both sides.Moodubidire MLA Umanath Kotian presided.
