Land records consist of various types of information (property maps, sale deeds, etc.) and are maintained across different departments at the district or village levels.

These departments work in silos and give rise to various issues, such as:

• Absence of a nationwide template: Land records are maintained by different departments in each state. It becomes strenuous to ensure that all such records in all the departments are updated and the details mentioned in one department exactly correspond to the details. mentioned in other departments.
• Lack of a single window title verification and investigation system: The presumption of land ownership is drawn from multiple documents and records, which are maintained by multiple departments, making it a very long and cumbersome process of title investigation.
• Presumptive titling: Ownership is decided based on recent economic transactions, which are easy to fake and thus lead to land disputes and litigations.
• Non-mandatory registration: Under the Registration Act, of 1908, registration of property is not mandatory for certain transactions, such as land acquisition by the government, heirship partitions, etc. Thus, several property divisions are not recorded and, hence, do not correctly reflect the ownership of the property.
• Opaqueness in land leasing: The current system of land leasing does not enable tenants to access bank credit and prevents them from making investments in land improvement.

The role of land record digitization and conclusive ‘land titling’ in addressing the above-mentioned issues are the following:

• Increases transparency: Land record digitization and conclusive land titling will enable complete transparency and real-time updates in land titles since property records could be placed in the public domain.
• Controls benami transactions: Benami transactions in land dealings could be pre-empted and eliminated by the digitization of land records and their regular updating.
• One-stop solution: It will lead to the establishment of a single window title verification and investigation system, which will be easily accessible to professionals as well as to the general public, making the public documents “public” in the real sense.
• Brings uniformity: Along with digitizing the land documents, the Central and state governments may take initiatives to maintain the land documents in a uniform manner and in a language that is understood nationwide.
• Clear ownership: Unlike presumptive titling, where neither the government nor the legal framework guarantees the ownership title of the land, under a conclusive land titling system, land records designate actual ownership.
• Easy bank credit: Conclusive land titling helps the rightful landowner easily avail credit from banks, as the government takes responsibility for the accuracy.

In addition, addressing land record issues and the mammoth task of mapping and digitizing 800 million land parcels further needs Centre-state coordination, a structured timeline for dispute resolutions, an integrated repository of land records covering both urban and rural areas, etc. Recent initiatives like the Digital India Land Records Implementation Programme 2.0 and the mapping of land parcels in rural inhabited areas using drone technology are welcome steps towards land reforms.