Maharashtra & Rajasthan on radar for land titling project

PUNE: Maharashtra and Rajasthan may see the pilot launch of the land title registration project as proposed by the Niti Aayog's land titling task force to minimize property disputes.

The task force, under the chairmanship of T Haque and 13 other members from across the country, recently submitted its recommendations to the central government.

The state is likely to amend the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code (MLRC) and it is likely to be cleared in the winter session of the assembly. Once this is done, the state may implement the recommendations that will ensure citizens a proper title to property, government officials said.

The Prime Minister's Office has also enlisted land titling as one of the major projects to be implemented by Maharashtra. Sources said a land titling centre would look into the entire issue of registration and checking of the land title. Once a property is registered with the centre, officials would conduct a detailed title search.

This will ensure the buyer a clear ownership and past record check before purchase. The sources said the proposed amendment to the MLRC would help reduce disputes in courts and also simplify maintenance of property records.

"This will be a first step towards guaranteed land titles," said S Chockolingam, state settlement commissioner and a member of the expert committee on land titling task force.

He explained that the buyer would have a clear understanding of the title before purchase and the government will then hand over the title certificate in the demat form. Explaining the task force's role, Chockolingam said the proposal assessed all the best practices from across the world and it was decided to start with virgin titles — properties allocated by development authorities and sold for the first time along with voluntary titling.