Dantewada has secured more than 700,000 land records for its avalanche blockchain

• Dantewada digitizes avalanche’s 700,000 land records for immediate tamper-proof access.
• Title search times have been reduced from a few days to seconds. In Phase 1, staffing costs were reduced by 40%.
• Blockchain integration increases access to marginalized groups and enables faster land services.

The Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, India, has used blockchain infrastructure to digitize the entire land record system. The project was completed with technical support from Zupple Labs and is deployed in Avalanche’s Evergreen subnet, securing over 700,000 legacy documents. The purpose of this move is to make land records tampering, transparent and instantly verifiable, eliminating any delays that have historically led to inefficiency and conflict.

Previously, all Dantewada land records were present on paper and were manually verified. The process involved up to 15 steps, often taking several weeks. This slowed land transactions and contributed to the spread of counterfeit real estate documents through informal markets.

In the new system, all mutations, title deeds and survey maps have been hashed and recorded in the avalanche permit layer 1 blockchain. Each land record is now accessible via a unique QR code. Citizens and officials can check the credibility of their documents in less than 30 seconds without using digital wallets or navigating complex systems.

The first phase of the rollout involves digitizing approximately 50,000 plots. According to district officials, title search times have fallen from three days to less than a minute, with the cost of staffing at the Land Records Bureau already falling by 40%.

Administrative leadership and implementation

The blockchain transition began during the tenure of IAS Jayant Nahata, who previously served as a quasi-distinguished judge for Dantewada. Nahata, now Chief Executive Officer of Zila Panchayat, along with current district collector Mayank Chaturvedi of IAS, directed the system to be planned and implemented.

According to Chaturvedi, the move to embrace digitalization and blockchain technology has made land validation a simple process and helped revive much-needed public confidence. Within one day land services became rapidly available, significantly improving the efficiency of service, availability, and document accessibility of district management.

Ensuring fair access for citizens

One of the key objectives of the initiative was to provide fair access to land records, particularly to citizens of tribes and marginalized communities. The new platform simplifies record searching for individuals facing bureaucratic obstacles when retrieving legal documents.

The applications shaped by Zupple Labs are customized to appeal to local officials and the general public using the RegainDoc platform. It was established in previous versions of Legagdoc, which have been used in caste certificates, academic transcripts and identity papers in other regions of India.

The Dantewada initiative is in compliance with India’s national blockchain strategy and is designed to be used as a blueprint for adoption in other districts of Chhattisgarh. Looking forward to it, the project will work with financial institutions to make land-based loan services available.

One important feature is the system’s ability to make copies of digital birth and marriage certificates. Over 700.000 people have already benefited from the initiative, and its purpose is to support the economy by reducing legal costs, reducing the number of land issues, and making government procedures more transparent.