Guidelines to facilitate modernisation of land records needed: Min

New Delhi, Sep 24 (UNI) Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh today called for devising appropriate guidelines that facilitate the National Land Records Modernisation Programme (NLRMP) in the country.

Inaugurating a two-day technical workshop on the NLRMP here today, the Minister said the ultimate goal of the NLRMP is to replace the present system of registration of deeds and documents as provided for in the Registration Act.

In the present system, the titles to property are merely presumptive and the State does not give guarantee for such titles.

Once some substantial progress is made in implementing the programme, the country can switch to the system of ''Conclusive Titles'' as followed in most advanced and some of the developing countries.

The Minister said the benefits of the NLRMP to citizens were that the records would be always up-to-date, tamperproof and easily accessible since they would be placed on website with proper security IDs; the time taken for obtaining copies of land records would be drastically reduced; automatic and automated mutilations would reduce the scope of fraudulent property deals and also litigation; market value information would be available on the website and E-linkage to credit facility would become available.

Giving a historical background, Dr Singh said the country has a rich history of land 'bandobast' extending from the times of Shershah to Todar Mal to Circar of British India.

There was, however, a need of updating of land records on a continuous basis.

He said the activities proposed under the NLRMP were computerisation of land records, including digitisation of maps and integration of textual and spatial data; survey/resurvey; computerisation of registration, including entry of valuation details; setting up modern record rooms; training and capacity building; inter-connectivity using IT among revenue offices and among various agencies involved in land records such as Revenue Offices, Survey and Settlement Offices, Registration Offices and Panchayats.

Core GIS activities such as village index base maps from satellite imagery for creating the core GIS; integration of three layers of data: (i) Spatial data from aerial photograph or high-resolution satellite imagery; (ii) Survey of India and Forest Survey of India maps; and (iii) Cadastral maps from revenue records are planned.

He said the total cost of the programme is Rs 5,656 crore, of which Central share would be Rs 3,098 crore and the State share would be Rs 2,558 crore.

The budget provision for 2008-09 is Rs 473 crore. It is envisaged that the entire programme would be completed by the end of the 12th Plan.

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