Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Tuesday, 7 July 2026, chaired a high-level review of the Revenue and Disaster Management Department at Mahanadi Bhawan in Raipur, directing officials to develop a system that delivers land records to farmers directly via WhatsApp, eliminating the need for visits to tehsil or patwari offices.

At the meeting, CM Sai instructed the department to ensure that documents including B-1 (land ownership extract), Khasra (plot-level land record), and loan passbooks (rin pustika) — along with other land-related information — are made easily accessible to farmers through WhatsApp. The directive aims to spare cultivators the time and expense of travelling to revenue offices for routine paperwork.

Context

Chhattisgarh's rural economy is heavily agrarian, and farmers routinely require land documents for bank loans, crop insurance, and government scheme enrolment. Accessing these records has historically required multiple visits to patwari offices or tehsil counters, a burden that falls disproportionately on small and marginal farmers in remote areas.

CM Sai, who took charge in December 2023 after the BJP's victory in the state assembly elections, has emphasised digital governance as a priority. Monday's review at Mahanadi Bhawan signals a concrete administrative push to translate that emphasis into citizen-facing services.

Policy Backdrop

The directive builds on the national Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP), launched in 2008, which mandated the computerisation of land records and their availability through state web portals. Chhattisgarh, like other states, has digitised khasra and jamabandi data, but last-mile delivery to farmers — particularly those without reliable internet or computer access — has remained a gap.

WhatsApp, with its near-ubiquitous penetration on low-cost smartphones across rural India, offers a practical channel to bridge that gap. Several other Indian states have piloted similar integrations of land-record portals with WhatsApp-based delivery, reflecting a broader administrative trend toward paperless, doorstep service.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries are farmers and rural landowners across Chhattisgarh who need B-1, Khasra, or loan passbook records for credit access, insurance claims, or legal purposes. Reducing footfall at patwari and tehsil offices could also ease administrative backlogs at the revenue department.

For the state government, successful implementation would strengthen its digital-governance credentials ahead of future electoral cycles and align Chhattisgarh with best-practice models from other states. Banks and cooperative lenders who rely on verified land records for agricultural credit disbursal are also indirect stakeholders in the initiative's success.

What's Next

The Revenue and Disaster Management Department is now tasked with developing the technical architecture for WhatsApp-based record delivery — likely involving integration with the state's existing land-record portal and a chatbot or helpline number. The rollout timeline and the mechanism for farmer authentication and data security will be closely watched by both administrators and civil-society groups working on land rights.

If implemented at scale, the initiative could serve as a replicable model for other departments in Chhattisgarh seeking to deliver routine certificates and extracts through mobile messaging platforms.