Abstract
Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India has come out with a Vision Document on 'Land Records Computerisation' in which great emphasis has been laid on the strategies to be adopted and the steps to be taken in completing Computerisation of Survey Records and Cadastral Maps in different states in India. VISIONLABS has come out with a completely indigenously developed Suite of Software Packages titled 'VISION LIS 2000' to meet this requirement. This suite comprises of:
- VISION Surveyor - A Land Information
System software for computerization of Land Records.
- VISION MapMaker - A Digital Mapping
Software
- VISION Cartographer - A powerful
Geographic Information System Software.
- VISION Office - A Multilingual Indian Language Support Software
This paper deals with the issues and approach involved in achieving a Total Technology Solution for Land Records Computerisation utilising VISION LIS 2000.
1. Background
1.1. Land Management
Land is the most basic and precious resource to mankind. Indian villages are typically a geographic tract of land with hundreds of acres of arable and wasteland. Ownership of land is perhaps as ancient a concept as the Indian Tribal Settlements and has held paramount significance throughout history.
Land Management is a key focus area for revenue departments throughout the country. The Government of India has laid a major emphasis in the last decade on land reforms and modernization of land records. A Land Information System, is essentially a computerization process which assists in the conventional stages of land records system, namely,
- Preparation of field maps depicting
boundaries and measurements and compilation of village maps from
these data.
- Settlement and compilation of revenue
assessment on lands based on classification etc.
- Creation of identifiable field boundary
framework on ground by erecting designated marks on land
junctions.
- Updating land maps and land registers
incorporating changes in boundaries, titles etc.
- Redress of grievances by showing
obliterated boundaries, resolving boundary disputes and
safeguarding titles and arresting encroachments.
- Revision of land records if changes on ground are too numerous to keep pace with.
1.2. Need for computerization
Importance of Land Records
- Land Records form the basis for
assignment and settlement of land titles
- These records must stand against legal
scrutiny
- Land is a very precious resource and the Land Records system must safeguard the rights of the legal owner of land.
Problems in old systems
Preservation
- Land records maintained on paper/ cloth
are in a very bad shape as they can be anywhere from 10 years to
150 years old.
- Duplication on similar media is cumbersome and will result in similar problems of maintenance after a few years.
Updation
- Updation to boundaries or title
information by manual process is highly time-consuming and any
error will get propagated to the village maps.
- Cross verification is required over records for a large period of time to ensure absence of inconsistencies after updating.
Retrieval
- Retrieval for redressal of any dispute is
time consuming due to the large bulk of information.
- Every retrieval/use has an associated risk of further physical damage of the old records.
1.3. Survey Methods used in the past
The objective of cadastral survey is the determination of village and field boundaries, preparation of village map showing such boundaries and area lists, and preparation of field registers. The map and area lists give the physical boundaries and areas and the field registers give the land particulars like ownership, revenue assessment, land classification etc.
Numerous survey methods were used in the 19th and 20th Century. Many of these systems led to inaccuracies and were modified time and again. However, the Bombay Survey System and Madras Survey System records, which evolved after 1880, were highly accurate and were directly or with variations adopted as a standard in many States.