Karnataka revenue department enters top league in file clearance: Minister

Karnataka’s revenue department, which had gained notoriety over the years for being an administrative laggard, has entered the top ranks in file clearance.

“Clearing huge files pending in the Revenue Department starts with a bang! In July, our performance was the second highest amongst 40+ departments,” Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said in a tweet.

Clearing huge file pending in Revenue Dept starts with a bang!

In July our performance was the second highest amongst 40+ departments. We cleared 3900 files when 2123 new files were created - performance of 183 per cent. Revenue Dept is never in A category in file clearance. We have not… pic.twitter.com/hovMJNDkhu

— Krishna Byre Gowda (@krishnabgowda) August 2, 2023

Gowda has been on a reform spree to overhaul the functioning of the revenue department, which is considered to be the mother department.

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“We cleared 3,900 files when 2,123 new files were created - a performance of 183 per cent,” Gowda said. “The revenue department was never in ‘A’ category in file clearance. We have not only made it to ‘A’, we are the 2nd highest across all departments and 1st amongst the large departments. A big thanks to our department team!” he said.

According to a data table Gowda shared, his department still has 12,973 files pending. “We will catch up on pendency created over the years. File clearance will be speeded up by going paperless (e-Office) wherever and at whatever level possible in the revenue department,” Gowda said, vowing to deliver better governance.

In a separate statement, Gowda said the number of files received by his department increases by the day. “As a result, work pressure increases on employees. As a result, several files remain uncleared. There were complaints from citizens that files don’t move in the revenue department,” he said.

Gowda reiterated that the Congress and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah have given him the revenue department expressly to improve the state-of-affairs. “After taking charge two months ago, I have re-energised the department and instructions have been issued to ensure speedy clearance of all files,” he said.