Bill to digitise land records in winter session

The Centre is likely to bring a Model Title Bill in the winter session of Parliament for the digitisation of all the land records which will help in determining the owners of the land across the country.

Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said during the question hour that the Bill aims to guide the state governments in the computerisation of land records and digitisation of maps.

“The central government has prepared the Model Title Bill. It is likely to be introduced in the next session of the Parliament.”

Ramesh explained that the Bill would help individuals to become the “conclusive owners” of their property.  “In India, one is a presumptive and not a conclusive owner of land unless proven otherwise. But once the digitisation of land records - which entails providing map of the land, mutation, photo ID and so on - is completed, the country can move towards conclusive ownership,” he added.

Ramesh said the government has already launched the modernisation of land records  in 267 districts of the country and by 2017, all the 620 districts will be covered.

The minister stressed that the responsibility to complete the task of modernisation of land records lies with the state governments.

Ramesh said the government will set up National Institute of Land Management at Nimrana between Delhi and Jaipur to train state officials in surveying the land and using modern technology.