Syllabus: E-governance – applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential
Background and Rationale
- Rural India suffered from chronic land-record failures due to handwritten and fragmented documentation.
- Karnataka relied on village accountants for maintaining Records of Rights, Tenancy and Crops (RTC).
- Farmers faced delays, errors, and intermediaries, often leading to prolonged land disputes in courts.
- Small and marginal farmers bore the highest cost of administrative inefficiency.
Launch and Core Objectives
- Bhoomi was launched in 2000 to computerise land records and improve accessibility.
- It aimed to replace discretion with rules, delays with timelines, and opacity with transparency.
- Computerised RTCs were given legal validity, and handwritten records were abolished.
- Over 25 years, more than 39.8 crore RTCs have been issued across the State.
Institutional and Capacity Reforms
- Large-scale training was undertaken for 9,000 village accountants, 8,000 revenue inspectors, and 1,000 computer operators.
- 204 Bhoomi Kendras were established at the taluk level for service delivery.
- Nearly 2.5 crore land records covering about 3.5 crore farmers were digitised.
- The reform led to a cultural shift inside the revenue administration.
Digital Integration and Service Expansion
- Bhoomi evolved into a comprehensive digital ecosystem for land and revenue administration.
- Integration with Kaveri registration system reduced fraud and eliminated middlemen.
- Mutation became automatic and transparent, ending earlier procedural delays.
- Mojini software (2007) digitised land surveys and boundary demarcation.
- The 11E Sketch improved accuracy in land boundaries and area measurement.
Role in Welfare Delivery
- Since 2016, crop compensation has been directly credited into farmers’ bank accounts.
- 2018 loan waiver benefited nearly 20 lakh farmers using Bhoomi data.
- Integration with PM-Kisan, FRUITS platform, and Aadhaar seeding of 2.17 crore accounts improved targeting.
Governance Outcomes
- Farmers no longer travel repeatedly between village, taluk, and district offices.
- Discretionary abuse reduced, making administration more predictable and citizen-friendly.
- Trust in public institutions improved due to transparent and time-bound services.
Key Lessons
- Digital governance succeeds when backed by administrative reform, legal change, and continuous institutional learning.
- Bhoomi shows that technology must be embedded in governance systems, not applied in isolation.
