NDA govt moots new land titling law

The NDA government is drafting a new legislation for conclusive titling of land, which is expected to be an improved version of the Land Titling Bill of 2011 initiated by the UPA-II regime.

The rural development ministry, said government sources, is getting the draft legislation vetted by the law ministry and would then take a call on whether to place it before Parliament in the Monsoon Session that begins from July 18.

To give clear titles and not mere sale deeds as it happens now and avoid prolonged cumbersome litigation, the ministry is putting together a comprehensive plan on establishing land right, record keeping, registration and dispute resolution mechanism.

Time-bound attempts are being made to integrate digitised land records with cadastral maps and registration process. The rural development ministry has identified 130 districts for land integration project before the 2019 polls.

First 30 among the targeted districts are scheduled to fix land records integration process at least by next year and the remaining thereafter, said sources in the government.

Given that land is a state subject, the draft legislation would work as a model law recommending states and Union territories (UTs) to establish titling authorities which would have digitised records of immovable properties in its jurisdictions.

The records would have a unique identification number similar to Aadhaar for every parcel of earth and mapped boundaries of individual properties.  Owners would be entitled to have access to their records on paying a fee.

The draft bill offers platforms for land titling dispute resolutions through tribunals and appellate bodies.