Importance of Land Records in Preventing Land Disputes
Land records play a crucial role in documenting ownership, facilitating land-related transactions, and preventing costly litigation. They serve as a lifeline for effective governance and provide legal status to landowners, ensuring clarity and transparency in land ownership. Without proper land records, disputes can arise, leading to financial losses and societal breakdowns. Updating land records through surveys and authentic processes is essential for initiating land reforms and resolving ownership issues efficiently.
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Land Records and Access 15thJuly 2017 Central Information Commission
Certification During a survey, one officer asked a farm- woman. What s your problem, you are actually in land and possession, farming there for decades, why do you need a piece of paper She said: Sir, if you have enough knowledge, is that enough? Why are you asking for a degree? Ownership is fine, but title is important.
Land Records Life Line Land records document human history and explain ownership patterns, revenue administration models, transformation etc Life line of effective system Foundation of policies , budgets and welfare schemes Provide legal status to land owner/cultivator
Archaic Records Possession, title, and name in revenue record are essential for land owner. 50 to 80 per cent of land owners in Telangana do not have one of these three essentials Most of the farmers do not know they their records are defective. Farmer is empowered only when record is straight.
Costly litigation Estimated that 58 thousand crore Rupees are spent on litigation in both civil and criminal cases by the people (State s expenditure is additional). 66 per cent of litigation is about land. Crime is consequence in many such disputes. Millions of families broken down. Nation s loss is 1.3 per cent GDP due to land litigation Litigation linger on for generations. There are at least 76 types of problems of land as identified by Landesa
Land reforms or Land-record reforms? Land reforms cannot even be initiated if the land records are not reformed. Without updating the land records there is no point in talking digitization of records, which means scanning the defective documents with thousands of wrongful entries and manipulated names. For updating records one need to survey the land, involve the people, consult the neighbours and finalize in an authentic manner.
What is updating of record? Write the records on walls of panchayath office. Allow people to raise objections Examine, inquire, and investigate the objections, survey the land, decide the borders, settle the claims. That is called updating! Without updating the landrecords, digitizing does not work.
Access to records It is not just an issue of RTI. It is the issue of administration, development, peace and progress. Disclosure is a requirement of civilization. If a state cannot disclose land records, it cannot be called as government and much less a democracy Without confirming who the owner or cultivator or possessor, the subsidies, inputs, fertilizers or seeds loans etc would be go waste & fill pockets of corrupt. Loan waivers help undeserved.
Empowerment! Without correlating records and land right holders on field in the village, the policies framed in national capital do not work. Without straight and clear records, farmers are not empowered. Only with records on hand indicating land and possession, their rights are ensured.
Modernization: An old story National Land Records Modernization is great work. But it is running for the last 15 years. Achievements are nowhere near the target. Now it is reviewed, reformed and renamed It is called Digital India Land Records Modernizaion Program. The Government of India is providing 100 per cent funding to states for this program, allocated Rs 11000 crore.
Digitization It includes both maintenance and access Digitization itself does not amount to automatic access. Scanning the present defective land records will not solve problems, but complicate it further. Updating and solving defects of documents is essential. Problems of Illiterates and Cilliterates need to be addressed. Computer, Electricity, Bandwidth and knowledge to operate are pre requisites for access to digitized records.
Insulate the records from manipulations! Earlier some revenue officers were holding the control over records and they used to change as per their wishes and based on bribes. By digitization the controls will change. Now those, who control computers will control the records and continue with corruption. If updated records are not insulated from manipulations, story of exploitation continues.
Legal changes only The records maintenance should be more scientific and provide for legal changes based on expansion of families and to legal transfers of property, within a stipulated time. It should be accessible to owners of land and others also for understanding. But it should not be open for whimsical changes by those who know technology.
The law and its non-compliance Obligations under Public Records Act 1993 to catalogue, classify, maintain and periodically update the records. Similar obligations under RTI Act 2005 PR Act does not have enforceability in states, they should have matching legislation. Compliance is a big issue, of these two laws too.
Are we civilized? Our archaic land records reflect out quality of administration and the goodness of governance. If we do not correct those records for decades, it reflects our efficiency If we talk of reforms without reforming the records, it shows our commitment If we talk about empowerment without access to records, it shows our civilization. If we talk but do not decide, it explains our honesty. Thank you for your kind attention
