Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo reviews digitization and modernization of land records, urges timely completion to ensure transparency and reduce land disputes

SRINAGAR: Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo today reviewed the progress of the ongoing Digitization and Modernization of Land Records project in Jammu and Kashmir, emphasizing that although the exercise is complex and arduous, it remains vital for ensuring transparency, accurate land ownership records, efficient planning, and improved agricultural practices across the Union Territory.

The meeting was attended by Secretary, Revenue, Kumar Rajeev Ranjan; Director, Survey & Land Records; Inspector General, Registration; CEO, State Health Agency and other senior officers, while all Deputy Commissioners participated through video conferencing.

The Chief Secretary underscored the importance of completing the digitization process with utmost accuracy, observing that a significant proportion of land-related disputes stem from discrepancies in land records. He directed the concerned officers to ensure regular monitoring and evaluation of the progress being achieved and to accomplish the modernization process in every respect within the next six to seven months.

Taking a detailed review of the current status, Dulloo instructed the Director, Land Records, to issue clear guidelines to all Deputy Commissioners regarding the procedure for recreation of missing musavis (cadastral maps) in certain villages. He asked that necessary support be extended to districts to ensure completion of this process within two months, so that the subsequent course of action for remaining villages can be determined thereafter.

The Chief Secretary also reviewed the progress under key components of the land records modernization programme, including digitization of Jamabandis (Record of Rights), geo-referencing of cadastral maps, sub-parcelization of survey numbers, end-to-end digitization of registrations, modernization of record rooms, computerization of revenue courts, implementation of NAKSHA in Urban Local Bodies, and the SVAMITVA scheme in rural areas for property card distribution.

Presenting an overview of the achievements, the Secretary, Revenue informed that data entry of Jamabandis is being carried out in 4519 villages out of 6857, with around 600 villages already completed. He added that a backlog mutation module has been developed to update the Records of Rights (RoR) and Jamabandis to the year 2025, and a proof of concept (PoC) of the same has been successfully completed in five villages.

It was further informed that parcel attribute updation under the PM Gati Shakti initiative is progressing satisfactorily and is expected to be completed within a month. Out of 6217 geo-referenced maps received by BISAG-N, 4240 have been returned and ground-truthed, while parcel attribution has been completed for 3489 villages using QGIS/ARC GIS tools.

Regarding computerization of the registration process, the meeting was informed that the system is expected to become fully paperless within the next two weeks, with legacy data dating back to 1990 also being digitized in collaboration with the judicial courts. Under the SVAMITVA Scheme, it was given out that 52,265 property cards have already been distributed across 1,200 villages, while drone surveys stand almost complete, with work on Map 1.0 and Map 2.0 currently underway.

It was also informed that the NAKSHA scheme is being implemented on a pilot basis in four Urban Local Bodies of Bishnah, Katra, Pattan, and Awantipora out of which Bishnah is nearing completion, with drone surveys pending in the remaining three municipalities.

Reiterating the government’s commitment to bring about a paradigm shift in land governance, the Chief Secretary directed the Revenue Department to maintain momentum and ensure seamless integration of all modules under the Digital Land Records Modernization Programme (DLRMP) for enhanced public service delivery and reduction in land disputes.