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Thiruvananthapuram: The sale of a small piece of land of around 15 cents at Ujar Ulvar village near Manjeswaram at Kasargod in Kerala last week stands apart as it is considered to be the first online land registration in the country.
It also marked a major milestone for Kerala's 'Ente Bhoomi’ - Integrated Land Information Management System.
Kerala is on a mission of digitising the entire land records and digitalizing the entire land transactions by integrating the revenue, registration and survey department. The initiative already received the attention of many states and some states even started steps to replicate the model.
Doing away with land disputes and establishing a single window platform for all land related services to the citizens are the highlights of the much ambitious programme of the Left Democratic Front government.
The digital land survey process was started in 2021 and so far digital survey of 7.34 lakh hectare of land in as many as 312 villages completed.
Ujar Ulvar village at Kasargod was selected for piloting the project and the entire digital land survey of the village was over. After the trial runs, the first online land transfer and registration using templates was performed on June 24.
Right from the application for getting the digital sketch of the land to be sold to the mutation after executing the sale deed were done online through the 'Ente Bhoomi' portal..
"It was indeed the first online template-based land transaction not just in Kerala but the entire country," Kerala registration department inspector general Sreedhanya Suresh told DH.
Instead of preparing the detailed land deed, only required details need to be entered in the template provided on the 'Ente Bhoomi' portal, which makes the process much easier. Ensuring accuracy and reducing the number of papers of the sale deed are other advantages of the template-based land registration system, she said.
In order to showcase the successful model, Kerala government organized a national conclave on digital survey for smart land governance last week. It witnessed participation of ministers and officials from around 20 states. Lead land administration specialist at the World Bank Mika Petteri Torhonen, who attended the conclave, said that 'Ente Bhoomi' land management solution of Kerala would take the state to be among countries like Estonia and Australia.
States and union territories like Assam, Rajasthan and Puducherry already initiated steps for replicating the model.