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Chapter 6: Accuracy and Comprehensiveness of Land Records
from NCAER releases India's first Land Records and Services Index to energise land governance in India
Real-time attestation of mutations is needed for propertyrelated transaction once registered At the minimum, GoI can seek a qualitatively better attempt at updating information on the DoLR websites by States / UTs
also not been deemed of importance till now.
On land use, the existing systems in almost every State and UT, still require revenue officers to only record agricultural land type and the crop sown. The fact that built-up property has far more value, is more likely to be transacted and therefore, benefit most from an accurate record of dimensions, is yet to find resonance amongst the States and UTs. The importance of creating an accurate record of built-up spaces (in both urban and rural), has only recently received recognition in some States / UTs.
On the question of restrictions and conditions attached to landed property, some States/UTs do not record any kind of encumbrance in the RoR. Many States / UTs profess to record more than just mortgages but the extent to which these do find their way into the record, has not been easily verifiable. Overall, it is perhaps not unfair to conclude that the realisation of the urgent need to record encumbrances fully to reflect the on-ground situation (ideally, recording changes as they occur on real-time basis), and thereby to minimise disputes, is incipient amongst most States /UTs.
The approach to digitising land records and the registration process in various States/UTs, appears to have been guided by a number of factors. States / UTs otherwise known for being better on governance parameters are not necessarily amongst the best in the rankings according to this Index (apart from Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu). States like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh that are not generally considered the best in terms of governance, rank amongst the highest on the N-LRSI. It appears that in many States/UTs, initiatives made by individuals / teams who were a position to influence policy decisions and implementation, played key roles in propelling the efforts made. This probably confirms that institutionalised priority to improving land and property records at the State/UT level, is yet to find an exemplar.
9.2 Prospects
1. The N-LRSI results point out areas of possible improvement in performance: what are the tasks that no State/UT has addressed at all? Some of these are alluded to in the preceding paragraphs but there are more!
i) Real-time attestation of mutations is needed for property-related transaction once registered.
ii) Other possibilities in a long list include linking databases like birth and death registers and genealogical tables (attached to RoRs in some States/UTs) in order to bring the requirement for inheritance related mutations into real-time notice.
iii) The issue of recording tenantpossession of rented built-up properties needs to be addressed.
iv) Map approvals need to be linked to land records so that the latter reflect changes in land use as well as the extent of proposed built up properties.
v) The data bases such as the Official Gazettes that record the start of land acquisition proceedings or the introduction of town planning related land use, need to be linked to the land records data base.
vi) There are also areas where some States/UTs have performed really well and can be easily copied by other States / UTs. On a technical note, the most obvious and easily adopted action is to follow States / UTs that have more easily navigable websites and up-to-date portals to assist clients. More quality checks of data that have been made available to see that information is located in the right places are called for in many States / UTs.
vii) States / UTs that have digitised records and are yet to make these available on the web, just need to do this!
viii) The digitisation of various stages in the registration process has been rendered easy by the generic software developed by NIC. States / UTs need to customise and follow these quickly. Vanguard States/ UTs also need to consider bringing in virtual registration as pioneered by Maharashtra. The linkage between RoRs and registration data bases to generate a note in the textual records on the registration of a property transaction is an action that all States / UTs can adopt quite easily. Recording all ownership in built up vertical spaces, like apartment blocks, as is being attempted in Maharashtra, is another act worth following for all States / UTs. Linking records of cooperative societies or drawing on municipal property tax records can make this task easier.
ix) States / UTs also need to consider ways to quickly survey unmapped inhabited areas and create a record for these areas. Maharashtra’s pilots with drone surveys are one example to learn from in this matter. There are also possibilities of using LIDAR where economies of scale make this practical.
x) States / UTs need to hasten the process of digitising the spatial record and giving the area actually recorded in digitised CMs legal legitimacy where it shows greater congruence with the on-ground situation than the area noted in the RoR. Some States and UTs appear to have made progress in linking institution of court cases with the textual record. These actions are surely worth emulating by others at an early date.
xi) For the Government of India, the N-LRSI offers a great opportunity in a number of directions. At the minimum it can seek a qualitatively better attempt at updating information on the DoLR websites by States / UTs. The States/UTs can be requested to make updating a real-time exercise by standardising links to relevant data bases. States/ UTs can also be requested to carry out more quality-checks of their records. Most important, the GoI can explore approaches to rewarding and recognising States / UTs that perform better on this Index so that the others are incentivised to improve and race beyond the front runners.
9.3 N-LRSI 2019-20 and Beyond
The first round (2019-20) of construction of the N-LRSI has primarily used supply-
