Farm land conversion made hassle-free

BENGALURU: Revenue Minister  R V Deshpande on Wednesday launched a new service that promises to make the conversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes hassle-free, almost fully digital with a promise of processing requests within 60 days. In a bid to avoid delays and unnecessary visits to multiple government agencies by landowners, the process has been almost completed digitised with options to get approval by multiple offices simultaneous with minimal human intervention.

In a first of its kind initiative, as claimed by the minister, the online application will require minimal documentation which will be used to general an affidavit that will be uploaded online at one-stop shop instead of haggling with several government offices for ‘No-objection’ certificates. 

“Earlier landowners had to get clearance from more than 20 different agencies and departments. Now, once an application is filed, it will be sent to all offices who are bound to respond within a month. The entire process of conversion will be completed within a timeline of 60 days,” said RV Deshpande, Minister, Revenue department adding that it was a ‘historic reform’.  The Revenue ministry issued an order on Wednesday making changes to the procedure of land conversion under the Karnataka land revenue act 1964 to accommodate the new system. 

All that an applicant needs to do is apply for conversion at the district commissioner’s office by creating a login ID at ‘Affidavit based conversion module’ under ‘citizen login for revenue services’ link on landrecords.karnataka.gov.in website. A copy of the latest record of rights, tenancy and crops (RTC), Mutation records to show the transfer of ownership of land and an 11-E map (Only if one part of the land needs to be converted) will suffice as documentation for the application.

Once all the information is filled up, a system generated affidavit needs to be downloaded and printed on a Rs 200 stamp paper and attested by a notary. The scanned copy of the attested affidavit should be uploaded online on landrecords.karnataka.gov.in. Within seven days, the district commissioner/ tahsildar’s office will upload an acknowledgement of receipt. The application will then be sent to all concerned authorities and departments simultaneously online to review the request and add their comments or opinions. 

If related departments don’t respond/offer an opinion or report online in a month’s time, the application will be eligible for next process under the presumption that the departments have ‘no- objection’. Officials of the departments will be held responsible for any delay or lack of response on the application within the timeframe.

The entire process, either to approve conversion or reject the application needs to be fulfilled within 60 days from the date of uploading documents and affidavit. The ministry hopes that the hassle-free process will help uncomplicate setting up of smallscale industries, help infrastructure and solar projects apart from giving a boost to tourism.

What’s required 
n Latest record of rights, tenancy and crops (RTC)
n Mutation record
n 11-E map (Only if one part needs to be converted)
n Printed affidavit attested by a notary on a `200 stamp paper Process
n Log onto landrecords.karnataka.gov.in website
n Click on ‘citizen login for revenue services’
n Create user ID under ‘Affidavit based conversion module’
n Upload documents and fill out the required information to generate affidavit 
n Download affidavit, print it on Rs 200 stamp paper and get it attested by a notary
n Upload affidavit’s scanned copy on landrecords.karnataka.gov.in
n Receive acknowledgement online within a week