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Sunday, Aug 31, 2008
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State to guarantee title of registered property

A. Srivathsan

CHENNAI: The Department of Land Resources, Government of India has proposed far-reaching changes to property registration. In a recent press release, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Union Rural Development Minister, suggested that a new system of conclusive titles — guaranteeing property title — would be introduced to minimise land disputes.

At present, the registration of deeds and documents does not guarantee the title of the property as it operates on the principle of presumptive rights. The State assumes that the property owner enjoys proper title and proceeds with the registration. Hence registration of property only amounts to a certification of transaction and does not ensure the title of the property. Any prospective buyer in order to verify the title has to undertake a tedious and difficult process of consulting various sources such as past transactions, mortgage deeds, revenue records and encumbrance certificate.

In the proposed system, a single agency will handle land records, document the true ownership status and guarantee the correctness of the title. The government will verify the data. Registration will sanction “indefeasible rights.”

Imperfect and costly examination of past titles will be done away with and the possibility of fraud removed. The system is prevalent in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Kenya and Thailand.

To make the system possible, the Ministry is proposing to speed up the computerisation of land records using updated satellite images and Geographical Information System.

It has announced that two existing schemes, Computerization of Land Records (CLR) and Strengthening of Revenue Administration & Updating of Land Records (SRA&ULR), will be merged, modified and replaced by the National Land Records Modernization Programme (NLRMP). The project will aim to collect and digitize all land records, improve the existing digital infrastructure and build necessary capacity at the State level. A core technical advisory group will be set up to assist the States in implementing the programme.

The Ministry has estimated the total cost of the programme at Rs. 5,656 crore — the Centre’s share will be Rs. 3,098 crore and the State’s Rs. 2,558 crore. It is envisaged that the entire programme will be completed by the end of the 12th Plan. To start with, the programme is proposed to be taken up in one or two districts in each State and Union Territory during the current financial year and subsequently scaled up.

When the new system is in place, it will aid credit institutions, disaster management, land acquisition and rehabilitation, the Minister said. The data will be placed on the website with proper security for easy access, he added.

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