Bhubaneswar: The implementation of a Smart Surveillance System using advanced CCTV cameras and Artificial Intelligence is set to anchor a major anti-corruption drive across all registration offices in Odisha.
Chaired by Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Shri Suresh Pujari at Lok Seva Bhawan, a high-level review meeting detailed how this technology will modernize and secure the state’s revenue administration. Additional Chief Secretary Revenue & Disaster Management, Dr. Arabinda Kumar Padhee, outlined the deliberations.
The primary objective of the new system is to identify, track, and penalize middlemen who frequent these offices without official purpose, ensuring that land transactions and registration processes remain entirely transparent and direct for citizens.
Beyond curbing outside interference, the Smart Surveillance System will serve as an internal accountability tool. It will monitor the attendance, working hours, and real-time activities of officers and staff, including tracking their field visits.
Operationally, the system relies on an upgraded Central Control Room at the State Headquarters for periodic monitoring by top leadership, including the Minister Shri Pujari and ACS Revenue & Disaster Management, Dr.Padhee.
The initiative will eventually expand beyond IGR offices to encompass all Tahasil and Revenue Inspector offices. It features broader infrastructure upgrades, such as real-time monitoring technologies and enhanced fire safety alert mechanisms. To ensure strict enforcement of security and order on the ground, the government also plans to grant Registration Officers additional enforcement powers by empowering them to function as Executive Magistrates.
Among those present at the meeting were Shrimati P. Anvesha Reddy, Inspector General of Registration; Shri Prakash Mishra, Special Secretary, Shri Diganta Rautaray, Additional Secretary; and other senior officials of the Department of Revenue & Disaster Management.