Karnataka Revenue Minister directs implementation of e-office systems in all districts

Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Friday said that the Deputy Commissioners and Tahsildars in all districts have been directed to completely implement e-office systems for clearing files online.

The adoption of e-office software has to be made completely in order to ensure a fully paperless office for improving efficiency and transparency, and all files concerned with the department have to be cleared digitally, the Minister added.

Speaking to reporters in Madikeri, the Minister said that e-office adoption will ensure safety of files and records, and therefore cannot be lost. The disposal of files cannot be delayed citing reasons like postal delay and so on; the records cannot be concealed, he added. He said that e-office adoption has to reach till the level of village accountants.

So far, 4,000 Village Accountants (VA) have been given laptops to facilitate online services, and the remaining ones would also be getting laptops soon so that the services get faster, the Minister said.

Mr. Byre Gowda said that steps have been taken to provide office space to VAs in gram panchayat offices so that the public get to meet them. All these years, the VAs had no offices and steps for providing them with office spaces had been taken based on the public feedback, the Minister added.

Out of 8,500 VAs in the State, nearly 2,000 VAs have got offices and 5,000 others will get offices soon. In Kodagu, 108 VAs have received office space in 102 gram panchayat offices.

Mr. Byre Gowda said ₹1 lakh crore has been credited into the accounts of 4.5 crore people in the form of the guarantee schemes. “This has become possible due to technology adoption. The benefits have been extended without the beneficiaries coming to the offices. This implementation has set an example for others. The initiative has now become a model,” he said.

Kodagu Deputy Commissioner will prioritise works in areas identified as ‘landslide prone’ for the safety of people, the Minister told reporters. Steps are being taken based on the list of places identified susceptible to landslides, he said.

MLAs A.S. Ponnanna and Mantar Gowda, Deputy Commissioner Venkataraja, and others were present.