Maps and land records have been digitized in 19,743 of the 20,000 villages of Chhattisgarh, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said on Saturday.

Revenue courts play a key role in resolving land related conflicts and keeping the state’s land records in organized manner, he said.

Baghel was speaking at a public dedication ceremony of the new office of the Revenue Board at Bilaspur virtually from his residence-cum-office at Raipur, said an official communication.

He said that in Chhattisgarh, 44 percent of land is covered by forest and 76 percent population lives in rural areas. Steps have been taken by the government to further strengthen the revenue administration to help the common man.

The Chief Minister said the processes have been made simple so that cases are resolved in a time-bound manner.

With help from the National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad, through aerial survey, new revenue records have been prepared in 10 civil bodies. The digitization of the Nazul and diversified records have been done, Baghel said.

The process of Geo-referenced map is being prepared, he added.

Revenue Minister Jaisingh Agrawal said that modernization of the revenue court hearings has been made. E-courts have been set up. This will bring changes in resolution, transparency and speed in disposing the cases.

Revenue Board Chairman C.K. Khetan said in his welcome address that the new office has been constructed at a cost of `6.11 crore having three court rooms, a modern record room, a conference hall, a bar room, a library and other facilities.