In an exclusive Interview to Informatics, Smt. Rita Sinha, IAS, Secretary, Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, expressed her views on how National Land Records Modernization Programme (NLRMP) will be instrumental in implementing the conclusive land-titling system in the country.
Kindly express your views about the importance of land records in India. What are the objectives of revised National Land Records Modernization Programme (NLRMP)?
Land plays a crucial role in our social and economic life, particularly in rural areas. The social & agrarian fabric could be disturbed if land management issues are not addressed effectively. Accurate land records enable the Government to plan development in a scientific way. The citizens are also benefitted as land transactions are made simpler, more transparent and up- to-date when the land management system is modernized and computerized. Identification of beneficiaries for various schemes is easily identifiable in such a way thereby reducing delays and corruption. Land records and food security are intimately linked to each other. As the land use pattern can be accurately mapped on the basis of accurate land records.
The NLRMP seeks to make all land records computerized, easily available, accurate and “real-time” i.e. accurate at any given moment. It seeks to introduce modern techniques of surveying property such as the use of aerial photogrammetry along with TS and GPS and, wherever possible, use of satellite imagery for this purpose. It also seeks to integrate the textual and spatial land records data as well as the revenue and registration systems with the ultimate objective of introducing conclusive titling in the country instead of deeds system which is followed at present.
NLRMP portal will provide project details and technical inputs
What according to you are the best features of NLRMP? What is the kind of feed back you have received for it?
The best features of NLRMP are :-
¡ It is a holistic and integrated approach to land and property management rather than an agglomeration of schemes.
¡ It makes property management a citizen service rather than merely a tool for governance
¡ It provides a base for accurate data collection and for core GIS related activities.
¡ It has the features of both transparency and confidentiality viz. transparency in the functioning of the property maintenance machinery and confidentiality for the citizen regarding property data
¡ It lays the basis for better governance and faster property transactions.
¡ It is bound to reduce unnecessary litigation due to accurate land record management.
The survey staff being trained under NLRMP on new survey techniques using “Global Positioning System (GPS) and Total Station (TS)”
How Significant is modernization of land records in bridging the digital divide in the country?
The erstwhile components of NLRMP had set up core computer infrastructure at grass root level .i.e. tehsils, circles etc. The project has brought digital land records and registration data availability on the web. Since, this information is often demanded by citizen for various purposes in day-to-day life, this also paved and contributed to the growth of internet kiosks/access-points in rural areas thereby reducing digital divide.
Integration of Record of Rights (RoR) with plot map
“Land Disputes are too common”. How the revised scheme of modernization of land records would address the problem?
The interlinking between the revenue and registration departments will ensure that
¡ all property records are kept up-to-date
¡ only property owners as recorded in the Record of rights (RoR) or as authorized by them can transact property
¡ Since the changes in the RoR are instantaneous upon issue of non-encumbrance certificate by the registration department, fraudulent sale of a property will no longer be possible.
All the above factors will greatly reduce land disputes.
Information Technology (IT) is the best tool to offer fast and transparent services to the citizen. What will be the role of IT in the revised scheme?
Information Technology has brought transparency in land record and registration management by facilitating placing of property records on the web, digitization of maps, integration of textual and spatial data, scanning of old records, use of TS and GPS for survey, linking of revenue and registration offices, past transactions and titles of properties as well as their valuation details. This has led to an efficient information management to a large extent enabling search for past encumbrances, mutation details and RoRs.
What was NIC's contribution during implementation of previous scheme on Computerization of Land Records (CLR)? What will be NIC's roles in revised project?
NIC has been our key partner providing technical inputs in policy/guidelines formulation for programme management at national level, ICT & training solutions at project level in all states and sustained operational support at district & tehsil level. The programme of such vast nature involving social, procedural and technical complexities requires an anchor organization to provide multifaceted support to move-on and NIC has played this role in an excellent manner. I envisage that the partnership involving NIC and DoLR would continue to strengthen NLRM project in times to come.