Latest news with #EnteBhoomiDigitalSurveyMission
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
No need for fundamental changes in State's land reforms Act: Rajan
There is no need for fundamental changes in the Kerala Land Reforms Act, Minister for Revenue K. Rajan has said. He was speaking after inaugurating the delegate session of the 'Bhoomi — Digital survey for smart land governance: innovations, integration, and impact' national conclave organised by the Revenue department and the Survey and Land Records department at Kovalam on Thursday. Mr. Rajan said Kerala was the first State to implement land reforms legislation. It was a revolution in the field of land ownership. Tenants who cultivated the land got ownership of it. At the same time, agriculture labourers also got land. There was also sufficient provision in it for giving selling exemption to industrial, commercial, educational, and charitable institutions, he pointed out. Land reforms in the State were based on social justice. Several States in the country followed Kerala's model. Implementation of digital survey marked the second land reform in the State. Its aim was to give accurate measurement and title to a land that an individual legally possessed. 'We are journeying from presumptive title to conclusive title and the Ente Bhoomi Digital Survey Mission was a milestone in this journey,' he said. Land records complaints were very few in the digitally surveyed villages. As pre-mutation sketch and authentic revenue records were provided before registration, land transfer was much more transparent, he said. Kerala, the Minister said, was the first State to implement the unique thandaper in 2022 to identity all those holding land above the ceiling stipulated in the land reforms Act. One of the major achievements of the digital survey was identification of land available for distribution among the landless. It also helped identify people holding land without proper title deed. Efforts were on to assign such land to the eligible. 'We have now distributed around 2.5 lakh title deeds to the landless in the past four years. We consider this a major achievement of our government,' Mr. Rajan said. Himachal Pradesh Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi, in his speech, urged representatives of various States to adopt the Kerala model in land governance. He pointed out that dispute resolution related to land records was easier when people were taken into confidence and Kerala had done a good job through panchayat jagratha samitis. M.G. Rajamanickam, Secretary, Revenue department; K. Mohammed Y. Safirulla, Land Revenue Commissioner; and Seeram Sambasiva Rao, Director, Survey and Land Records, spoke.
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Four-day ‘Bhoomi' conclave on digital land survey begins today
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate 'Bhoomi - Digital survey for smart governance: innovations, integration, and impact' in the State capital on Wednesday. The four-day conclave organised by the Revenue department and the Survey and Land Records department aims at highlighting the State's advancements in land governance. After the inaugural at the Nishagandhi auditorium at 4 p.m., the next two days of the conclave will be held at Uday Samudra Beach Hotel, Kovalam. Delegates from 23 States have registered for the conclave. National and international experts in the field will participate. On the last day of the meet, the delegates will get an opportunity to experience first hand the digital resurvey under way in the State and interact with officials. A digital survey expo that will be held along with the conclave will showcase national best practices and innovations in land administration. The conclave comes against the backdrop of the State implementing an IT-based land survey solution that is a model for others, Minister for Revenue K. Rajan said in a statement. Resurvey proceedings began in the State in 1966. When the present Left Democratic Front government came to power, the resurvey had been done in 921 villages in the traditional manner. In the 16 years since the electronics total station (ETS) was introduced in 1995, only 92,000 hectares of land had been measured. This was the time when the government was mulling going in for the more speedy and transparent digital resurvey. It had to overcome public apprehension, along with challenges such as finances and temporary staff to launch the survey in November 2022. It was August 2023 by the time the required equipment all arrived. Since then 51.43 lakh land parcels and 7.34 lakh hectares of land had been measured and recorded. This comes to one-fourth of the 28 lakh ha of land in the State (discounting nearly 7 lakh ha of forest land), the Minister said in the statement. The Ente Bhoomi Digital Survey Mission, launched in 2022 with a ₹858-crore investment, marks a paradigm shift in land governance. The 'Ente Bhoomi' portal, launched in October last year, is the country's first comprehensive digital land information system. It integrates real-time geospatially referenced cadastral maps with dynamic land records management. The project ensures end-to-end digital surveys, instant citizen access, grievance management, digitised transactions, automated pre-mutation and secure land boundaries. The third phase of the digital resurvey is on now. Launched in 639 villages, the resurvey has been completed in 312 villages, becoming another Kerala model, the Minister said in the statement.
