The Union government plans to issue a unique 14-digit identification number for every plot of land in the country by March 2022. A Parliamentary standing committee report submitted to the Lok Sabha last week stated that the government will integrate its land records database with revenue and bank records, as well as Aadhaar numbers on a voluntary basis, as per a report in The Hindu.
This is part of the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP), which was initiated in 2008 and has been extended several times. While the programme is scheduled to end soon, the Department of Land Resources has proposed a further extension to 2023-24, to achieve its original objectives as well as to introduce new schemes.
Launched in ten states this year, the Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) scheme will be introduced across the country by March 2022, the Department of Land Resources told the Standing Committee on Rural Development.
A Department official told The Hindu that the number would be like an ‘Aadhaar for land’, which would help to prevent land fraud by uniquely identifying every surveyed plot of land, especially in rural areas where land records are often outdated.
As per a presentation made by the Department to states in September 2020, the identification will be carried out taking into account the longitude and latitude coordinates of the land parcel and will make use of detailed surveys.
“This Department has taken new initiatives under the programme like NGDRS (National Generic Document Registration System), ULPIN, linking of the court to land records, integration (of) consent-based Aadhaar number with land records etc. which necessitated its further extension beyond 2020-21 till 2023-24,” the Department told the parliamentary panel.
In its presentation to the parliamentary panel, the Department stated that creating a modern land record structure in each district would cost Rs 50 lakh per district, and combining land records with the Revenue Court Management System would cost Rs 270 crore. In the next phase, the linkage of land record databases with banks is envisaged.