Digitising Land Records

The Department of Revenue that takes care of land records is one of the most important, and the oldest, departments in Jammu and Kashmir. It maintains records of all categories of land viz, proprietary, government, agriculture, non-agriculture, abadi deh, shamilat, graveyard land, church land, cemetery land, kahcharai, land of shrines, banjar jadeed/ kadeem, forests, water bodies, roads, passages, etc. With the description of their measurement, usage and owners under a Hadbust in a Tehsil. The plots of land are denoted with particular numbers called Khasra number, Khotuni number and Khewat number on distinct land records viz, Girdawari, Khotuni, Jamabandi etc., to differentiate and know their various owners/holders. Khasra number is a unique number assigned to a piece of land. It is like a plot or survey number. Khotuni number is given to a set of cultivators who grow crops on land with different Khasra numbers. One or more Khotunies form a Khewat. The Khewat number also called Khatta number is a number given to owners who form a set of co-sharers owning the land in same or different proportions under that number. Simply it is an account number allotted to various owners in a Khewat.

Despite detailed description of land there is an alarming number of land related disputes/litigations in Jammu & Kashmir which ruin rural development culminating in retarded economic growth. This is because in various cases the names of landowners/landholders are mentioned either incorrectly, or with incomplete detail. Somewhere first name/surname is not mentioned, middle name distorted/omitted and parentage half described or incorrectly mentioned. This general shortcoming is more often than not witnessed in cases of a particular community, resultantly it becomes difficult to ascertain the veracity of ownership to a piece of land. Exempli gratia; Ghulam Ahmad Bhat S/o, Ghulam Mohammad Bhat is written as Ahmad Bhat or Ama But or Ghulam Bhat S/o, Mama or Muma But. Then there are unregistered sales/purchases, wrong and illegal possessions over which the occupant has no proprietary rights as it belongs to government or a community or other person and vice versa. Sometimes mutation entries are incorrectly/incompletely made or skipped altogether leaving the status of erstwhile vendors and vendees unchanged. Somewhere land owners are shown as tenants and vice versa. Barring exceptions, documents in Urdu (which is the official language deserving all honour for its promotion) are written in a style that is unreadable even to the drafter itself. The contents of one record do not tally with its corresponding document. This pell-mell paves way for encroachments/counter claims leading to litigations which continue for years inviting loss of labour, productivity, production and peace. This is also due to the illiteracy and carelessness of majority of landlords/landholders. The mistakes of omission and commission open a Pandora’s Box for all concerned.

   

There is a plethora of Acts/Rules/Amendments made regarding land for easement of its use and transfer. Digitisation of land records is another latest step taken under the Digital India Land Record Modernisation Programme, previously known as National Land Record Modernisation Programme, launched in 2008 (2014 in case of J and K) in this direction to digitise and modernise land records, and develop a centralized land record management system. To hone the systemic efficiency and foretaste its promised delight, the Government of Jammu & Kashmir notified Land Pass Book (LPB) Rules, 2022 on 27.1.2022. Rules stipulate that LPB issued at a fee of Rs.100/ may be used as a document for grant of financial assistance by any financial institution. The entries in LPB will carry the same evidentiary value as if these were certified copies of record-of-rights and other public record for all purposes before the courts and financial institutions/banks. As per rules each revenue village in the Tehsil of J & K will be the unit for issuance of LPB to landholder till the objective of issuance of single LPB to landholder indicative of his total landholding is achieved with March, 2022 targeted for completion. Each page of the LPB will be digitally coded with QR Code, serially numbered, and bear the name of the landholder to avoid tampering. Duplicate copy would also be issued at a payment of Rs.100/. The exercise will generate gross revenue of about Rs. 30 crore.

The lacunae crept in the paper records may reflect, unless rectified, in the records captured in digital form. For this, Patwar records are the basic indispensable records of primary importance with Patwari acting as the foundation. Patwari is a term legally used in Central and North India. He is known by other names including Lekhpal and Village Officer in other States. He has good chances of elevation too. He is responsible for a Patwar village (previously Patwar Halqa consisted of more than one village) and providing information to government about the crops grown in his Patwar village. He measures land, maintains record of ownership & titling and updates land records. A brief description of some of the vital records is given hereunder.

i) Shajra Copy: It is a map of land on a piece of white cloth called ‘Latha’ which gives survey numbers and dimensions of a field. It is prepared at the time of consolidation or settlement.

ii) Registry Record: It shows transfer of ownership of the property and does not necessarily require sale.

iii) Inteqal Record: It shows change of ownership after valid mutations.

iv) Girdawari. It is a document in which the Patwari enters name of the owner/holder/tenant, land khasra number, area, kind of land cultivated/ non-cultivated, means of irrigation, name of the crop, crop condition etc. He is to conduct a field harvest inspection every six months, normally in the months of April and October. It is a khasra-wise annual harvest record register.

v) Jamabandi Register. It is Khewat-wise long record-of-rights. It also indicates cultivation, revenue, rent and other cess payable by owners. It is an amended record-of-rights updated after every five years. It has 12 columns containing details of land, land owner, crop, tenants and holder on rent unlike Girdawari which has seven. It is prepared by Patwari and attested by Revenue Officer concerned. Though all revenue authorities have their own part the lion’s share of credibility or otherwise for the accuracy & updating of land records, the quality & quantum of information provided and onus of responsibility mainly rests on Patwari.

However, sans compromise on dereliction in duties they may be positioned suitably and provided with requisites to better the records enabling hassle free access /knowledge by the due seeker. Digitisation is a laudable exercise that will reduce the easy chances of tampering/mutilation and thus land disputes. However, there should be an effective mechanism at ground level to rectify the digitised records backed by hardcopies wherever needed for building a strong, and accurate foundation to generate a corresponding credible structure. Else digitisation will be what is ‘GIGO’ in computer sciences. Only complete and correct digitisation with cross reference to related documents will clear the mist.

Mohammad Jalal-ud-Din. is a former Sr. Audit Officer and Consultant in the A.G’s Office Srinagar.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts, analysis, assumptions and perspective appearing in the article do not reflect the views of GK.

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