Full Title: The Digitisation Project Isn’t a Cure-All for India’s Land Record Malaise
Highlights
On 24 April, India’s Ministry of Rural Development released a press release announcing that as many as 28 states and Union Territories (UTs) have already adopted the National Generic Document Registration System (NGDRS)—a digital portal for maintaining land records. (View Highlight)
In 2008, the centrally-sponsored National Land Records Modernisation Programme (NLRMP) was rolled out. And on 1 April 2016, this was transformed into the Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme ( DILRMP ). The mandate being to usher in an updated land records system: with automated and automatic record maintenance, integration of textual and spatial records, inter-connectivity between the revenue and registration divisions, replacing the present deed registration, and a lot more. (View Highlight)
Additionally, each land parcel would now be identified with a 14-digit unique identification number called the Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN), or Bhu-Aadhaar. (So far, 26 states and UTs have adopted Bhu-Aadhaar and seven more are conducting pilot testing.) (View Highlight)
There’s no doubt that the sheer quantity of land disputes are holding India back. According to a study by the Centre for Policy Research , for example, land disputes account for 66% of civil cases in the country. (View Highlight)
The Indian government’s current goal is to digitise 100% of land records in the country by 2024. DILRMP was initially planned only up to 2021, but was further extended to 2024 (as is traditional for most public-sector projects). DILRMP’s current dashboard with data from the Department of Land Resources shows that even though there has been significant progress, it isn’t yet complete. Some states and UTs are yet to ensure 100% completion of all DILRMP components. (View Highlight)
The process of document registration in India continues to be governed by a colonial era law enacted in 1908. And most property documents must be compulsorily registered under the Registration Act, 1908. This has long involved interminable delays, corruption, and dealing with high-handed officials. And lots and lots of paper forms, depositing of fees, and then having to wait a fortnight or more until you finally receive your registered land document. (View Highlight)
The NGDRS software is aimed at mitigating all this and sharply cutting down human-human interactions. (View Highlight)
As an aside, this would also make it a lot easier for banks to extend credit to more landowners. Banks usually engage a lawyer from their own panels to examine the history of land parcels that are offered up as collateral. They visit the local revenue office, before filing a title search report, and only if the report is positive do banks accept the parcel as collateral. Digitising such documents would make this process far easier, increasing credit access to landowners (especially small landowners in rural areas) who earlier could not get loans due to improper documentation. (View Highlight)
But, in a country where existing records for vast tracts of land are outdated, disputed, or unaccounted for, the ULPIN system will hardly be the gamechanger the government wants it to be if it is just built on top of this existing mess. Pending rights disputes should be settled and new surveys are needed to update land records. (View Highlight)
