Belagavi district has emerged as one of the top regions in Karnataka where land records remain in the names of deceased owners, as the state government’s Aadhaar-linking drive reveals over 23% such cases statewide.
Of the 2.25 crore landowners whose Aadhaar numbers have been linked with land records in Karnataka, 52.4 lakh are deceased, according to the revenue department.
As part of the government’s ongoing drive to link Aadhaar with the Record of Rights, Tenancy, and Crops (RTC), it was discovered that more than 23% of land ownership documents are still registered in the names of the deceased.
The government plans to roll out the inheritance record campaign by the end of May. Documents accessed by reporters reveal that a total of 4.20 crore landowners’ Aadhaar numbers need to be linked with their RTCs.
So far, Aadhaar linking has been completed for 2.25 crore landowners, and of these, 52.40 lakh have been officially recorded as deceased.
Tumakuru district reports the highest number of such cases, with 5.61 lakh deceased owners, followed by Belagavi with 4.7 lakh, Mandya with 3.7 lakh, and both Kodagu and Kolar with 2.8 lakh each.
The number of deceased owners is likely to rise further once the Aadhaar linking process covers all 4.2 crore owners. Typically, after a landowner’s death, the property must be transferred to their legal heirs. To address pending cases not under litigation, the government has launched village adalats, where revenue department officers will handle such issues.
Since the RTCs still list many deceased individuals (mostly parents) as owners, legal heirs are facing hurdles in accessing benefits such as disaster compensation or bank loans.
