Unique ID for All Land Parcels by March 2022: Centre

The Indian government plans to issue a 14-digit unique identification number to every plot of land in the country by March 2022 according to a Parliamentary report submitted by the Standing Committee on Rural Development to the Lok Sabha.

It can be described as “the Aadhaar for land” and will be used to prevent land fraud, a Department of Land Resources official told The Hindu. The identification will be based on the longitude and latitude coordinates of the land plot, which in turn will be based on detailed surveys and geo-referenced cadastral maps, the report stated.

The project falls under the new Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) scheme and is already underway in ten states and will roll over to the entire country by mid-2022, the Department told the standing committee. This is the government’s latest initiative as part of the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP) that began in 2008.

The government will further integrate land records with revenue court records, bank records, as well as Aadhaar numbers on a voluntary basis, the report stated. To carry out this integration, as well as to pursue other new initiatives, the Department has sought an extension to DILRMP to 2023-24. The programme was due to end this week.

Current status of DILMRP

Under DILMPR, the government is already in the process of computerization of land records (CLR), map digitization, and the setting up of modern record rooms. Thus far, nearly 91% of all the land records have been computerized, 68% of cadastral maps have been digitized, and 2182 modern record room out of the sanctioned 3514 have been set-up. The Center will leverage these record to implement ULPIN.

How much will the new scheme cost?

The Department stated that creating a modern land record room would cost Rs. 50 lakh per district and the integration of land record with court records will Rs. 270 crore. The voluntary Aadhaar linking will cost Rs. 3 per record and the seeding and authentication of landowner Aadhaar data will cost Rs. 5 each, the report stated. The Department did not provide any estimate for the proposed integration with bank records.

“These components will enhance the service deliveries to the citizen of the country and will also function as inputs to the schemes of the other sectors like Agriculture, Finance Disaster Management etc,” the Department of Land Resources said.

Source: MediaNama