The rapid urbanization
has led to the complexities in land transaction in India, it is further exacerbated by migration, industrialization and frequent
land use changes with the expansion of the cities. Land continues to be a major
source of income to government through
stamp duties, and is a key element in implementing a wide range of government
programs. Experts such as land
administrators, lawyers and surveyors
are involved in the process of creating and defining land parcels and land
rights, but the land registration process does not
guarantee title ownership , though the right to property is a legal right in
India. Hence there arises complication in the land administration in India.
Land administration is
the way in which the rules of land
tenure are applied and made operational. Land administration comprises a wide range of systems and processes to
administer. The processes of land administration include the transfer of rights
in land from one party to another through sale, lease, loan, gift and
inheritance; the regulating of land and property development; the use and
conservation of the land; the gathering of revenues from the land through
sales, leasing, and taxation; and the resolving of conflicts concerning the
ownership and the use of land.
The Global Plan of Action
for Sustainable Development adopted by the Rio Conference 1992 (Agenda 21),
pointed out the major issues the world faces at present.
They are poverty, problems of sustainable settlement, deforestation and
environmental degradation. And these are directly related to the land issue.
The major problems are related to
access to land for the urban and rural poor, to create efficient and
accessible land markets and the lack of proper land records in certain states.
There are conflicts and
challenges for the land management in
the Indian context. Initial land
administration focused on land revenue only, but the scenario has completely
changed with urbanization and growth of the cities . It is difficult
to define land parcels and to describe associated rights especially in the
metropolitan cities since the cities are
expanding to the fringe areas at a rapid rate. Land administration and policy
has not clearly demarcated land markets
both in urban ,rural areas as well as the peri urban areas in most of
the Indian cities. Illegal transfers of land and lack of coherent management of restrictive
land and their updated information , boundary dispute, ownership rows, land
re-measurements, payment of land taxes, land possession and non- encumbrance
certificates are vexatious issues in Indian context.
In most of the countries, land administration is one of the
most corrupt public services. According to (Transparency International, 2006)
bribes paid annually by users of land administration services are estimated at
$700 million in India. Moreover rural land transacted after 1882
are maintained by both the revenue department and the stamps and
registration department. This overlap
further increases transaction costs and frauds in the records.
There are complaints
related to the land
administrators because they are not
able to provide immediate relief to the people because our land records are
manual and they cannot be immediately checked. However there is a paradigm
shift in the recent years. Most of the States in India now have digital
information about land and digital parcel maps. At some places both are
integrated. Computerized land registries are
operational in states like
Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Tamil
Nadu. To great extent it helps to overcome weaknesses in the public sector. It
has reduced the scope of corruption associated with the land
administration. Changing form of ownership is another major challenge.
The land related
conflicts leads to court cases and litigations resulting in social cost ,
creation of fake documents where single property is sold to several persons
,encroachments ,illegal constructions are the major loopholes. Hence more control at the official level is
required to tackle these irregularities. The E-governance in the context of
complicated land management practices is a innovative remedy
.Interestingly the considerable efforts taken
by GoK via Bhoomi, KAVERI and Mojini projects is a promising approach to
overcome the hurdles of land administration of the state.
Hence the need of the
hour is the counteractive measures such as
computerization and integration of land records allowing
private sector participation in surveying, reduction of
stamp duty that reduces the
malpractices in the process of land registration. In order to achieve the sustainable and rational outcomes appropriate laws are required and their
implementation will be focus of the land
administrators. Countries like Australia are advanced with E-land. The advent
of technology and pressures on land
administrators created by increased population and land use changes necessitated E-land administration.The latest
concept is I-land. I-land is integrated, spatially enabled land information
available on internet which facilitates government policies by information such
as people, interests, rights, prices and transactions. Proper execution is
required so that each state makes a
fast journey from on-line to E-land and I-land administration.
The
commodity ‘ Land ’ has the power to transform the governments
and institutions of the economies of modern societies and their
functioning. Land information with
spatial data infrastructure has the power
to transform economies and
societal functions through the
ways in which tax is collected, services are delivered, spatial expansion etc.
Effective land administration system is
the sole motive of an efficient land market. Hence better
land management policies are required for the land markets of modern economies.
Therefore, the challenges ahead for the administration and policy makers is to capitalize the
opportunities of modern world for
better service delivery.
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