Land Records Modernisation in India: An Institutional, Legal & Policy Review

This work provides an institutional, legal and policy review of crucial aspects of land records modernisation systems at the national level. Introducing property records and patterns of ownership in India, it provides an overview of various central government schemes promoting land records modernisation. It discusses the systemic and legal characteristics of land records and the proposed shift to conclusive land titling system, drawing attention to issues of tenure and property rights, especially in the urban and peri-urban context. Presenting multiple case studies on ongoing modernisation initiatives in some of the study states, the volumes also looks at the roles of multiple institutional stakeholders and the interfaces between them. Operational challenges faced in this transition to technology have also been discussed, in an attempt to bring out an overall picture of crucial issues and best practices across state-level diversities. The objective is to highlight the possibility of multiple trajectories and look at ways in which states can learn from each other by sharing experiences, while simultaneously acknowledging that there are certain issues that are typical of a particular state and must be resolved via deeper engagement with the local terrain.