The government will soon start issuing a unique identity number to each landholding so that the land titles/ownership are clearly defined and undisputed. The unique identity number will be GIS-tagged, which will provide the exact geometric location of the land or plot. This move is expected to bring transparency and end questionable land ownership.
The rural development ministry has already started the work of assigning a standardised unique number to each surveyed plot. According to the official sources, a committee consisting of the ministries of rural development, IT, agriculture and law have already started to work towards rolling out Aadhaar like IDs for land within the next six months.
This number will be similar to an Aadhaar for an individual. All the issues related to the land/plot such as sale/purchase, payment of property taxes and ownership history can be traced using a single number. Also, the number will have the details of the state, district, tehsil or taluka, block-level, and street in respect to each landholding.
According to the current scenarios in the country, it takes 20 years on an average to resolve the court cases related to disputed land, the validity of titles and records or rightful ownership. Besides these, land is often used as collateral for the loans taken and due to unclear titles, the access to credit is blocked.
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With a step forward to digitise the land records, the government is aiming at streamlining and organising India’s outdated land record system. Also, this new system will attract more foreign investors who were averse to invest in India due to lack of proper land titles.
It will bring transparency in the landholdings and will reduce the numerous litigations related to land in the country. While the owners will have a clear title to the land/plot, it will be easy for them to access credit by issuing the land as collateral.
The government has already put into action the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP) for the digitisation of the property registration process and land records. However, the results have been mixed and progress has been behindhand in some states. Only 22 states have validated digitally signed records so far.
For any clarifications/feedback on the topic, please contact the writer at komal.chawla@cleartax.in
I am an aspiring Chartered Accountant. I spend most of my free time dredging through the various Indian finance subreddits. I am a semi-professional bowler with a high strike rate every time there is a new tax reform!
