India focusing on integrated land management system

In recent years, India has taken proactive steps to digitize land records under the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP) to create an integrated land management system.

What government is doing?

• The government revamped the existing National Land Record Modernization Programme (NLRMP) by bringing into force, the Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP)
  • DILRMP is a Central Scheme with 100 per cent funding.
  • The programme is slated to be fully implemented by March 2026, with completion of basic digitisation of Record of Rights (RoRs) and Cadastral Maps and integration of the the two , computerisation of Sub Registrar Offices (SROs), and integration of SROs and Revenue Offices by March 2024.

Where does India lack?

• In India, most property documents must compulsorily be registered under the Registration Act, 1908, failing which they cannot be admitted in court (in case of a dispute) as evidence.

• Despite being a crucial formality for legal documentation, the registration process in India still relies on the outdated physical mode of registration.
• In 2013, while the government sought to amend the Registration Act to allow the digitization of certain processes, these amendments were never enacted.
• The central Act must establish minimum standards for remote online registration to ensure that registration throughout India is undertaken in a safe and secure manner.