Slides from a presentation delivered at the Dayananda Sagar college, Bangalore, on April 27, 2007.

1. e-Gov in
Karnataka
Kiran Jonnalagadda
Comat Technologies
kiran.j@comat.com

2. About Comat
10 years old
Primarily in e-Governance
Startup-like growth curve
Three divisions:
Go Digi – computerisation projects
Go Rural – rural technology projects
Rural BPO – rural work opportunities
2

3. Of the various e-governance projects Comat
has been involved with in Karnataka, the
Bhoomi rural land records
Nemmadi
system and rural
information telecentre projects
deserve attention.

4. Bhoomi:
Rural Land Records

5. Land Records:
Property Rights
Why is property important?
Means of economic production
For example, farming:
Fertility of soil, size, proximity to
market are important
Land generates revenue. Who benefits
from this revenue?
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6. “Land Tenure”

7. “Land Tenure”
“The conditions under
which land or buildings
are held or occupied.”

8. Property Rights aren’t absolute.
They’re bounded by the
community. The term
“tenure” captures this balancing of
rights.

9. Huh? Take an example: an
independent house on a plot
of land, versus a flat in a building.
You can rebuild the house and make it
bigger. You can’t expand the flat.
The “community” of the building
defines your rights.

10. Boundaries of Property
Your House
Plot Plot Plot Plot Pl
Road
Plot Plot Plot Plot
Trade

11. Division of Property

12. Division of Property

13. Division of Property
No Access To Road

14. No Access to Road,
Really!
The “nail house” of Chongqing, China

15. Yang Wu and Wu Ping fought
f o r a f a i r p r i ce f o r t h e i r
property when a developer
tried forcing them to sell
cheap by digging a deep ditch
around the house. Their story
received worldwide attention.
Eventually, they won.
Fighting it
Out

16. joint family? How
What about a
do you cut up the house? Does it
make sense to define property in terms of
individuals? What if property is defined
“family?”
as owned by the

17. Community and
Land Tenure
Tenure is defined by community
Family, neighbourhood, type of land
Distinct communities develop distinct
tenure systems
Tenure is like language and dialect
Tendency to fragment; variations
depending on local conditions
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18. Administrative Reform:
Defragmentation
Administrations prefer simplicity in
the interest of manageability
Historic tendency (through centuries)
to unify similar tenure systems across
regions into a common definition
Like language again: Hindi and English
across India; English across the world
15

19. Introducing
Bhoomi
Bhoomi is:
1. Computerisation of oral and paper-
based records
2. Simplification of tenure systems
from over 1200 known types in
Karnataka, to 256
16

20. Translations Aren’t Easy
Elevator Announcement:
“Please close the door.
Dayamadi gate muchi”
Literally Translated:
“Take pity, close the gate”
Tenures get similarly mangled in a translation process

21. Computerisation has effects that go far
beyond putting computers in front of
babus. Effects can be both positive
negative.
and

22. Positive Effects of
Bhoomi
Created Transparency
Single repository of authoritative
information on land ownership
Reduced Corruption
The village accountant is no longer
master of the database; is perfunctory
Improved Speed of Processes
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23. Where do you get a copy of your land records?
Nemmadi:
Rural Telecentres

24. Common Fallacy
Why does rural need special attention?
Rural = Poor = Stupid, backward, need
to be told what’s good for them
Do not fall for this!
Rural citizens are perfectly normal
people. Examine the circumstances,
not the people
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25. Road Network Density
Determines Access to Conveniences & Necessities

26. Information Network?
Map from 1986: most of the world is offline

27. Nemmadi expands the
geographical reach of the
information network

28. 800 telecentres Most locations have
27 districts barely four hours of
177 taluks electric supply at
100 volts, let alone
All major internet access.
habitation
centres How do you setup a
kiosk in such a
location?
By investing in
25 technology

29. The Nemmadi Network
Nemmadi Telecentre Network Architecture
The Internet
Hughes Downlink,
Gurgaon
RDS,
Tata Bhoomi
Indicom Servers
CDMA
Network
Private Network
GoK
SWAN
LAN
75% Telecentres with VSAT 25% Telecentres with CDMA Backoffice GoK Taluk Server
Private IP Range Public Non-Static IPs No Internet Access
48 kbps 112 kbps
(This diagram is a few months old and may no longer be accurate)

30. VSAT – Internet via satellite + UPS
Government services:
Bhoomi RTC certificate
Revenue Dept certificates and services
Other departments soon
Education: Sarva Shikshana Abhigyan
Private services
Internet browsing, banking products
Several others upcoming
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31. Q&A
Any Questions?