Thiruvananthapuram: With a view to bringing transparency to documents and sketches that follow the deals and transactions involving land, the state government is all set to constitute the Kerala Land Authority.
A draft plan for the project, being implemented with financial assistance from the Central Computerization Project, has been prepared. As per this, the survey sketches of properties will be automatically updated using GIS technology when their owner submits an application to the revenue department for a property mutation. No separate applications will have to be submitted for this.
With this, the government will be able to provide the most comprehensive document with regard to the property in question to its owner, thereby avoiding the scope for disputes. The new authority will be entrusted with the administrative responsibility of various activities, such as the computerization of all documents relating to properties, map digitalisation, revision and updating of the survey settlement documents, computerization of the Registration Department, revision of rules, and online coordination of the revenue, registration, and survey departments.
The project, prepared by the Land Revenue Commissioner, was discussed thoroughly during a high-level meeting convened by the Revenue Department. It has also set aside Rs 10 lakh for project implementation.
The authority will function as an autonomous entity with the participation of officials from the revenue, registration, and survey departments. Details of its administrative mandate and functioning will be prepared later. The land record computerization program in Kerala, which began in 1998 with the central government’s support, is yet to be completed.
Launched as separate projects for revenue, registration, and survey departments, it was followed by various other projects, too. Though a separate project titled Kerala Land Record Modernization was launched by the previous government, the present administration withdrew it.
Single portal for revenue department services
Prior to establishing the Kerala Land Authority, a new portal that will bring all services and payments, including land taxes, under a single umbrella will soon be established. The state government has already allotted Rs 23 crore for this purpose.
Presently, the revenue department is providing as many as 20 different services to the public through various login windows. This has posed difficulties to the officials as well as the public in ensuring timely and efficient delivery of services.