Unreadable docus make computerisation tough
The cursive and scribbled scripts in Telugu, Hindi, Urdu, Marathi and Kannada in the Setwar records are proving to be a headache for the tahsildar staff in Ranga Reddy district while computerising land records.
The CCLA had issued orders for computerisation of land records last month for the convenience of the public and it is planning to provide the required Setwars at Meeseva centers on par with the Pahanies and ECs apart from uploading the details on the Maa Bhoomi website.
Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Medak, Adilabad and Warangal districts have already overcome the issue and completed 100 per cent computerisation of land records. Khammam and Karimnagar districts will see its completion in one or two days.
But Ranga Reddy district, which has prime localities and costliest land valued at `14 crore per acre, has completed just 55 per cent of computerisation of the records.
During the Nizam’s period, the land records were written in several languages as per the convenience of the public. As the Hyderabad state was expanded up to Raichur, Bidar in Karnataka and several places in Maharashtra, most of the then Tahsildars and village patwaries adopted local languages including Telugu, Hindi, Urdu, Marathi and Kannada. Moreover, the records were made in cursive, which is difficult to read and understand. These Setwar scripts are proving to be difficult to interpret or translate by the current generation.
Other districts have taken the assistance of language experts for rewriting the Setwar records for uploading it on the Maa Bhoomi website in Telugu and English languages. But the Ranga Reddy administration is having a tough time.
Ranga Reddy district has 37 mandals, which have as many as 2,42,691 survey numbers of which 1,35,159 records relate to Setwars and the remaining are Kasra Pahanies.
An official from Ranga Reddy district told this newspaper that officials and staff at the mandal level were unable to read or translate the Setwar records.
“For example, Survey number 137 under Nacharam village in Uppal mandal is written in Urdu and Arabic script. It is impossible to read as it is very old. The text has disappeared in the Ramantapur Khalsa records. The Uppal Khalsa 356 Setwar record will crumble if anyone touches it,” the source said.