The launch of NGDRS has started a new era in the process of registration of documents and properties. The procedure from applying for registry to paying stamp duty and court fee is easier, thereby eliminating the need of repeated visits to the sub-registrar’s office.

A project initiated by the Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, the National Generic Document Registration System (NGDRS) is a common, generic and configurable application developed for registration departments across the country. The application is specifically designed for the use of sub registrars, citizens and apex users from registration departments. NGDRS facilitates states to create state specific instance and configure the software as per requirements. Offering a complete user interface for property and document registration, the application enables citizens to proceed with land buying online. They can find out the circle rate for land, calculate property valuation as per prevailing rates and understand the type of land. Transactions of prohibited properties are restricted for sale like government land, tribal land, mortgaged land etc., is also available, which ultimately helps them decide where and what type of land they should buy. Thereafter, they can apply online for document submission, make instant payment and take prior appointments. Property buyers need to visit the sub-registrar’s office only once and that too at the time of final signing and registration. This entire workflow has not only proved to be beneficial for citizens but has also increased productivity of the department staff.

Objectives With technology being one of the major enablers, it is ensured that registrations and delivery of documents to the parties happen faster in comparison to the conventional methods. The broad level objectives are:

  • One Nation One Software
  • Generic platform for registration of properties and document across the country
  • Citizen empowerment by enabling property valuation and online document submission
  • A single platform of all the stakeholders in registration process

Development of NGDRS The product has been developed using open source development tools. It is a web-based system implementing single instance for an entire state. As the name implies, the software is generic in nature and is deployed as state specific instance. The development was carried out considering the uniqueness and practices in all states’ registration departments. Following steps were involved in the same:

  • A questionnaire was designed and circulated to Inspector General of Registrations of all the states and majority of them were filled as per state specific requirements with the help of local NIC officials.
  • Based on the inputs, a gap analysis report was prepared.
  • Thereafter, a System Requirement Specifications document was prepared, which was approved by the Department of Land Resources at the Government of India level.
  • Finally, based on the requirements elicited from the tacit knowledge of functionaries, a product came out called NGDRS.

Process re-engineering benefits

  • Time-saving single-window appointment & online payment process
  • Minimum interface, reduced visits to sub registrar's office and facility of online query & reply
  • Auto calculation of duty. Stamp duty and other charges are valued accurately by the software using address details of the property
  • Online process. Entire database is stored on cloud server and dashboard gives real-time data
  • Prevention of fraudulent transactions. Document details uploaded online

Features

  • Citizen’s registration to request the access permission of the system
  • Facility for online document entry for citizens
  • Online valuation module with stamp duty calculation
  • Role based access to citizens and department users
  • SMS facility to send alerts to citizens and departmental users
  • E KYC – UID based authentication with the help of biometric or iris at the time of admission
  • Hierarchy based maker/ checker facility
  • Email enabled alerts to citizens and users
  • Linking with land records system
  • Linking with stamp inventory software to avoid duplicate usage of used stamp paper
  • Storage of copy of registered documents using scanning technology
  • Facility to view & download scanned documents and generate certified copy of authorized user
  • Registration can be done anywhere within concurrent jurisdiction
  • Unicode based local language support
  • Single log in credentials for all modules

Registration Process National Generic Document Registration System has made the registration process easier so that citizens can quickly adapt to the system and start utilizing it.

Rollout of NGDRS As on 31st December 2019, the product is being used in seven States. These States are Punjab, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Manipur, Jharkhand, Goa, Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh, based on the policy, “One Nation One Software”, the dream of Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.

Enterprise Architecture Framework of NGDRS Enterprise Architecture (EA) is a conceptual blueprint that defines the structure and operation of an organization. Enterprise Architecture framework for NGDRS has been developed. It is noteworthy the framework bagged an Award at the National Awards for eGovernance for the year 2018-19.

Way Forward The National Generic Document Registration System has now moved a step ahead by introducing data analytics and blockchain technology. The proof of concept is now on the roll for both technologies.