The Karnataka government is set to bring "The Karnataka School Education Department Properties Protection Bill 2025". This step comes after it was found that 18,791 government schools across the state do not have registered land records. School Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa said properties of 17,356 primary and 1,435 high schools are not registered in the name of the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL). Currently, Karnataka has 48,436 government schools, including 43,564 primary and 4,872 high schools. Most schools have government-allotted or donor-donated land, but 18,791 schools' land is unregistered without any revenue documents, such as khata extracts. Because of this, many school lands have been encroached upon, and legal cases are pending. Also, development work like building construction is difficult without proper records. Since 2022-23, DSEL has run an annual "Government School and Educational Institutions Property Protection Campaign". Deputy Commissioners were tasked to collect land records, register them, and remove encroachments. So far, only 25,339 primary and 3,437 high schools are registered under DSEL. The highest number of unregistered school properties is in Shivamogga (1,192 schools), followed by Mandya (1,124), Tumakuru (1,063), Kalaburagi (958), and Bengaluru South (877). Umesh G. Gangavadi, State president of the School Development and Monitoring Committee (SDMC), highlighted that "Most of the properties of government schools have been encroached upon due to the neglect of previous governments. Many cases are pending in court." He added, "If there are no records for the properties, it is also difficult to carry out development work in such schools. The government should complete the pending property registration of government schools on a war footing. A request will be made to the Chief Minister in this regard."