Transformation of Land Records: The 21st Century Digital Era

Land, in India is revered like a mother by the landholder. Although not a Fundamental Right under Part III of the Constitution of India, the right to land is guaranteed under Article 300-A. Land is a distinctive asset everyone wishes to hold in perpetuity through generations without any legal disputes. Holding of lands, to many millions, is a matter of self-esteem and security. In the past, most land records were on paper, the poor maintenance of which gave rise to a lot of property related scams. But now, after digital technology has marked its presence in every industry, it has led to a transparent system in terms of maintaining land records. It has helped to eradicate the problem of duplication of records, creation of false records and will make evasion of tax difficult for the public. Over the years, there have been various steps taken by the Central and the State Government in this regard. Under the List II of the VII Schedule of the Indian Constitution, the Union Government has been providing the State with financial assistance to digitize the Land Records, introducing programmes like the Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP), and the SVAMITVA scheme. However, various issues relating to capacity, ownership, backlog issues, technology obsolescence, unidentical data, mismanagement between various data handling agencies and other such obstacles still exist with regard to the development of the digitization of land records. Many states in India do not have any means to survey the lands. Apart from the issues aforesaid, we can also see new offences related with the maintenance of records rising after being coupled with new and innovative acts of mischief. The key to preventing such harm is proper and transparent maintenance of records along with greater awareness and responsibility of the citizens. Digitization of documents will help society as a whole by compiling records of buying, selling and transferring of all types of land in one website. The availability of statistical data through the click of a button, will be offer convenient data for better planning, implementation and development of industries and smart cities. Overall, it becomes a lot easier to check the genuineness of land records. In this paper the authors will be discussing in detail, the evolution of digitization of land records in India, its advantages, disadvantages and solutions to modernization and digitization of land records.