NEW DELHI: Madhya Pradesh retained the top position while West Bengal jumped four spots to the second in the NCAER Land Record Services Index (N-LRSI) released on Thursday.
In the second edition of N-LRSI, the national average improved 16.2%, with states showing considerable progress in digitising records and registration processes.
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N-LRSI was formulated in 2019 with the broad objectives of gauging the extent of digitisation of land records and registration process, and to assess the improvement in the quality of the records as a result of digitisation.
Land record digitisation has gained prominence with Prime Minister Narendra Modi launching the Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improved Technology in Village Areas (SVAMITVA) scheme in April 2020. This scheme seeks to confer land titles in so far unmapped and inhabited parts of rural India.
The major impediments that inhibit investment and poverty reduction in both rural as well as urban India, include constraints to acquisition and holding of land, and transactions in land and property.
India’s spectacular jump in the overall ranking on the World Bank of Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) index from the 142 position in 2014 to 63 in 2020 was in marked contrast to the dismal show in ease of registering property, where India’s ranking improved only marginally from 166 in 2019 to 154 in 2020. However, there are substantial differences in the results achieved by different states in terms of improving processes for those transacting in land.
In the latest survey, despite significant improvement and recording a score of over 70 points, Odisha and Maharashtra dropped to third and fourth places respectively, whereas Tamil Nadu retained fifth place.
Of 32 states and union territories (UTs) ranked, only Assam and Lakshadweep Islands have shown a decline in their points since last year. As many as 27 states/UTs have shown at least some improvement in their scores and three have been able to maintain their scores. The most significant jump in percentage terms was in the case of Bihar at 125% that enabled it to jump from the 23rd spot to 8th in the latest edition.
Land-related disputes in India account for 60-70% of all civil litigation. About 25% of all cases decided by the Supreme Court involve land disputes, of which 30% concern disputes related to land acquisition, according to NCAER.
The fact that a large number of land parcels are subject to legal disputes and unclear titles makes tenure insecure for the rising poor and vulnerable people, thereby creating a sense of insecurity in business climate, discouraging new investment, and posing a challenge for governance.
The pendency of several million cases related to land disputes in courts across, is partly due to the lack of comprehensive and up-to-date land records.
Shekhar Shah, director general, NCAER, said the focus must shift from mere digitisation to creation of more accurate and comprehensive land record databases that also provide ease of fair, transparent, and efficient land transactions with good price discovery for both sellers and buyers.
"Future work on the N-LRSI will need to engage with, and incorporate these developments in adjusting its components and the weights assigned to them. This will serve to keep the NCAER Land Records and Services Index relevant, and enhance its attractiveness as a marker of progress in India’s journey to more secure property rights and better functioning land markets," he added.
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