Bengaluru: The initiative to integrate records of rights, tenancy, and crops (RTC) of agricultural land statewide has revealed that more than 52 lakh land parcels remain registered to deceased owners.The revenue department has initiated ‘Pauti Khata‘, a programme to facilitate transfer of land records to rightful heirs. The department had initially planned a statewide launch but opted instead to begin with Gadag district as a pilot programme. With the pilot being successfully concluded, the department has rolled out the process across the state.Village accountants are tasked with contacting individual landowners to link their Aadhaar with RTCs. It uses specially developed software for the purpose.Of the 3.5 crore landowners who were contacted, only 2.3 crore parcels were successfully linked with Aadhaar.Revenue commissioner P Sunil Kumar said 1.2 crore parcels remain unlinked, 52 lakh are still registered to deceased owners and 70 lakh properties are being unlawfully used for non-agricultural purposes.Kumar said ‘Pauti Khata’ is a significant effort by the govt to update land records. Village accountants go door-to-door to gather information, verify claims of ownership through family trees, and publicly display claimant names in villages to ensure transparency.”There are several properties in the possession of the second and third generation of deceased persons,” an official said. “There are chances that some people will provide false information to avoid giving women a share of their inheritance. The aim of publishing the list in villages is to spread awareness and we hope other legitimate shareholders will approach officials concerned to claim their share. If there are no disputes, we transfer records to rightful heirs, but if there are disputes, we will mention ‘pauti pending’ in records.”Revenue officials say this initiative aims to combat corruption in heir documentation, reduce visits to local and taluk offices, save farmers’ time, and streamline land ownership transfers. Additionally, it helps prevent future inheritance disputes among heirs.