Need to Redefine the Purpose of Land Records in India
Recent slowdown of the Indian economy has been a matter of
concern for policymakers. The 5 per cent growth rate for the fiscal year
2019-20 is far below the desired double digit growth rate for India,
attributable to a mix of both, internal and external factors. India’s economic
journey proves to be an example of partial success. The early success was
triggered by the liberalization efforts in 1991 entailing the removal of industrial
controls and licenses, following a phase of socialist policies for about three
decades post-independence (with a Hindu growth
rate of 3.5 per cent). After the economic reforms in 1991, the growth rate reached
around 5 per cent for the three year period of 1994-97. However, external
factors like global economic crisis have dwindled this economic growth, the
last one being the global financial crisis in 2008-09. Since the crisis, India
has not been able to recover and attain the desired double digit growth,
something that China exhibited in its peak years. The unsustainable growth
model of India despite the macro-economic reforms reflects the inherent
weaknesses of the economy in the form of domestic rigidities.
Post-independence, a slew of land reforms were proposed and introduced across India. The blueprint for these reforms as laid out by the Centre at the time essentially addressed six essential issues:
Land Policy and
Governance, an Impediment to India’s Economic Growth
A major area of concern that drags the growth of the economy
has been the festering issue of land policy. Issues and challenges surface now
and then in the form of widespread land scams, litigation cases, land
acquisition hurdles, distorted land pricing mechanism. The root cause of the
problem lies in the failure of Indian administration to have evolved from the British
era’s land record and revenue measures. Lack of attention given to land record
management in India is reflected in the dearth of any major change in the land
record management system over the years.
Evolution of Land
Record Management: What is the Missing Link?
Under the British, the purpose of land records was tax
revenue collection; the format of the records thus was a reflection of that.
Over the years, the objective of land based revenue collection has reduced
significantly – for one of the largest Indian States, Uttar Pradesh, the land
revenue collection as a percentage of total tax revenue has fallen from 40 per
cent in 1957-58 to a minuscule proportion of 0.3 per cent in 2019-20. Despite
this redundancy, the land records for most of Indian States/UTs continue to
exhibit the relevant columns for tax revenue collection details. This signifies
lack of priority conferred upon the land record quality and its relevance as
per the current needs.
Record of Rights - Sample from Chhattisgarh |
Post-independence, a slew of land reforms were proposed and introduced across India. The blueprint for these reforms as laid out by the Centre at the time essentially addressed six essential issues:
a) Abolition
of intermediaries
b) Abolition
or regulation of tenancy and improving the security of the tenants
c) Fixation
of ceilings on landholdings and redistribution of surplus land
d) Payment
of compensation for acquired lands
e) Consolidation
of holdings
f) Choice
of appropriate form of organisation and promotion of cooperatives
However, land being a state subject, the implementation of
these reforms varied across states. This has translated into divergent paths of
land policy and governance in Indian States/UTs. This disparity is also
reflected in the land records across states, characterized by the lack of
standardized formats of data collection and recording one comes across in India.
With the objective of land records management for land
revenue collection becoming a thing of the past, land revenue officials are
also observed to be lax in their attitude towards record keeping and
management. Instead of redefining land records as a proof of land/property
ownership, these officials have been loaded with miscellaneous work like natural
disaster management and municipal duties that gives them lesser time to focus
on land records accuracy and quality.
Changing the Objective
of Land Record Management
With the transition of country from an agrarian economy to a
more industry and services driven economy, it is imperative that land records capture
details relevant for the times. Today, accurate land records are the minimum
essential requirements for supporting efficient and hassle free development.
These records must necessarily reflect ground reality and capture all the
possible encumbrances – mortgages, litigation cases, land acquisition proceeding
or land-use restrictions – clearly to limit the dispute cases and hence make
the transaction efficient.
An assessment of the Digital India Land Record Modernization
Program (DI-LRMP) conducted by National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in Himachal Pradesh revealed that around 72 per cent of cases
with a variation between reported and the on-ground possession, were due to
excessive joint ownership. With such a scenario, when the on-ground subdivision
is not reflected in the land records, the chances of it being used as ownership
proof for any possible loan from financial institutions slims down, adversely
impacting the growth of mortgage market. Further, unclear ownership also makes
acquisition processes tedious and long drawn, causing significant escalation of
project costs.
Poor land record management also often serves to be the raison
d'ĂȘtre for legal disputes over the land/property. Often, the area/extent of
land recorded in the legal documents is found to vary with respect to the ground
situation. Surveys/Re-surveys in Indian States/UTs have progressed at a snail’s
place or have been stalled due to lack of priority towards such detailing. This
lack of attention essentially derives from the fact that land revenue
collection is no longer the objective of the land record departments.
NCAER’s recent work on creating a nationwide land records
and services index has shown, that barring some instances of mortgages, other restrictions/conditions
over a plot of land are seldom noted in the textual records. Only 2 states were
found to record civil court cases concerning land parcels, while 8 States/UTs
were found to record an instance of revenue court cases. With such a poor
record of ongoing court cases, property is likely to exchange hands on illegitimate
grounds and can further accentuate the chances of legal disputes.
It is clear that there is an urgent need for land record departments
across States/UTs to re-orient their focus on ensuring quality and accuracy of
land records. Re-establishing land records as a tool for ensuring
well-functioning mortgage market and for limiting the land/property related
disputes is essential. Clear land records can be a major step towards removing
bottlenecks to land reforms in India, and the sooner it happens, the better the
chances of spurring rapid growth in India get.
Comments
Post a Comment