Odisha govt to launch AI smart surveillance in registration offices
Bhubaneswar, June 2
The Odisha government will soon launch an Artificial Intelligence-enabled Smart Surveillance System equipped with advanced CCTV cameras across all registration offices in the state to curb the activities of middlemen and enhance transparency in the land registration process.
The Revenue and Disaster Management Minister, Suresh Pujari, on Tuesday chaired a high-level review meeting at Lok Seva Bhawan here on the surveillance system under the Inspector General of Registration (IGR).
The meeting reviewed the implementation, operation, and maintenance of the proposed surveillance network. The Minister emphasised the need to strengthen the security infrastructure of all registration offices through an integrated surveillance and monitoring mechanism.
"The possibility of corruption in registration offices largely arises due to the activities of middlemen who frequently visit these offices without any official purpose, unlike officers and staff. To address this issue, a Smart Surveillance System using CCTV cameras will be introduced to identify such middlemen. The system will be further strengthened through the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance its effectiveness in identifying and tracking these individuals, who will also face appropriate penalties," stated Pujari in the meeting.
The Minister reiterated that the land transaction and registration process would be kept completely free from the influence of middlemen and that corruption would not be tolerated under any circumstances.
"Ensuring a transparent, corruption-free and accountable revenue administration remains a top priority of the Government, and efforts will begin with making the registration system free from middlemen," he added.
The Minister further informed that the Smart Surveillance System will be gradually extended to all Revenue Department offices, including Tahasil and Revenue Inspector (RI) offices. The system will monitor the attendance and working hours of officers and staff and will also facilitate tracking during field visits. Periodic monitoring of the system will be carried out at the State Headquarters level under the supervision of the Hon'ble Minister and the Additional Chief Secretary of the Department.
The Smart Surveillance System will maintain a close watch on officials' attendance and performance. Fire safety measures will also be strengthened through enhanced alert mechanisms. The capacity of the Smart Surveillance System's Control Room will be upgraded, and modern technologies such as real-time monitoring will be adopted to make revenue administration more transparent, efficient, and citizen-centric.
During the review meeting, Pujari also directed that security arrangements at all registration offices be further strengthened and that Registration Officers be granted additional powers, wherever necessary, to function as Executive Magistrates.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Sounds promising but I'm a bit skeptical. We've seen such announcements before and ground reality remains the same. Will the AI be able to distinguish between a genuine visitor and a middleman? What about privacy concerns? Hope the government also focuses on simplifying the entire process digitally rather than just adding cameras.
Good initiative but remember - middlemen exist because the system is deliberately kept complicated by some officials. If you remove the middlemen without fixing the process, people will suffer more. Let's hope this time it's different and they actually empower citizens with direct online access to all records.
As someone who recently went through the registration process for a flat in Bhubaneswar, I can tell you this is badly needed. The touts outside the office are shameless - they grab your files and demand money for 'expediting' things. Thankful if this AI reduces their presence, but also worried about constant surveillance of common people and staff. Hope there are clear data protection policies in place. 🙏
Govt thinking of using technology to cut corruption? Well, long overdue but welcome step. What about staff accountability? The minister mentioned tracking attendance too - that's good. Middlemen often have inside connections with officials. If they start penalizing both sides equally, that would be real transparency. Let's see how it works on ground in 6 months time.
I appreciate the intent but feel we should also digitize all land records completely and allow online registration from anywhere. Then middlemen would become irrelevant automatically. Why not focus on that rather than just CCTV and
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