Expedite disposal of applications under Darkhast Podi campaign, Revenue Minister instructs officers

Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Saturday directed officials in Hassan district to expedite the disposal of applications under the Darkhast Podi campaign, an initiative to formally demarcate agricultural lands granted to farmers several decades ago.

Speaking to reporters after a review meeting with district officers, the Minister said land measurement had been completed in 24,000 cases, while another 20,000 were in progress.

He said some cases involved discrepancies between the extent of land recorded in documents and what was actually claimed on the ground, requiring physical spot inspections. He said he had directed officers to begin these inspections without delay.

In addition, around 25,000 cases remained pending because beneficiaries lacked the mandatory three supporting documents. “I have instructed officers to process cases where at least two of the required records are available, following scrutiny by a committee headed by the Deputy Commissioner. The process will begin soon. Overall, around 50,000 families who received land grants decades ago stand to receive their podi documents through this drive,” he said.

Earlier, he also reviewed the progress in disposing of the applications received by the public during Janaspandana, public grievances redressal programmes, held at four taluk centres earlier. “So far, Janaspandana has been held in Hassan, Arasikere, Sakleshpur and Belur taluks. The administration received a total of 4,538 applications, and of them, 4,444 have been disposed of. The remaining 94 would be disposed of soon," he added.

Hassan MP Shreyas M. Patel, Deputy Commissioner K.S. Lathakumari, Zilla Panchayat CEO Shubham Shukla, SP Shubhanwita and others attended the meeting.