In accordance with the 2nd edition of NCAER Land Record and Services Index (N-LRSI) 2021, almost 32 States and Union Territories (UTs) have shown an improvement in their effort to digitise land records. Their mean has shown an increase of 16.6% in 2020-21 from 38.7 in 2019-20 to 45.1 in 2020-21 (out of 100 points).
- Notably, Madhya Pradesh topped the list for the second year in a row and followed by West Bengal (2nd), Odisha (3rd), Maharashtra (4th) and Tamil Nadu (5th).
- Only 13 states allow online mode of payment for property registration while nine states are still using paper stamps for it.
Who has prepared the index?
The index has been prepared by NCAER (National Council of Applied Economic Research) with support from Omidyar Network India through its Property Rights Research Consortium.
The N-LRSI 2021 is based on data collected over 2020-21 on two aspects of the supply of land records—the extent of digitisation of land records and the quality of these land records.
Parameters used for Measuring Index: 4
- Digitisation of textual and spatial records
- Computerisation of the registration process
- Quality of land records
- Accessibility.
Top 5 & Bottom 5 States Ranking:
| Top 5 States | Scores | Bottom 5 States | Scores |
| Madhya Pradesh | 80.2 | Sikkim | 8.8 |
| West Bengal | 78.5 | Assam | 18.5 |
| Odisha | 77.2 | Kerala | 21.4 |
| Maharashtra | 70.9 | Manipur | 22.3 |
| Tamil Nadu | 70.3 | Gujarat | 35.3 |
Key Points:
i.West Bengal position has improved by four ranks, from rank 6 to 2.
ii.The states of Bihar, Karnataka, Tripura, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh (AP), Himachal Pradesh (HP)and Kerala have reported the most improvement.
iii.On the parameter of ‘extent of digitisation’, Bihar shows maximum improvement, followed by West Bengal, Tripura, and Karnataka.
iv.In terms of the ‘quality of land resources’, Karnataka led the states followed by Bihar, Tripura and Goa.
v.On the basis of Accessibility, Odisha, West Bengal, Karnataka, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are the top performing states.
- Accessibility evaluates states and UTs on the ease of access, comprehensiveness of the information available, the design and user interface, among others.
- Access to land is a critical factor for economic growth and poverty reduction therefore it is required to have access to reliable land and property records.
About N-LRSI Index:
Launched in February 2020 it measures the performance of all states and UTs on the extent of its digitisation process for land records and services, and the overall improvement in the quality of the record as a result of the digitisation process.
- It is a part of the NCAER Land Policy Initiative (NLPI) launched in 2019.
- 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 relating to land acquisition, according to the NCAER.
- With an objective of Creating accurate land records for rural planning and to reduce property related disputes and legal cases.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improved Technology in Village Areas (SVAMITVA) scheme in April 2020. The survey shall be done across the country in a phase wise manner over the period of four years (2020 -2024) using drone technology.
- India’s spectacular jump in the overall ranking in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index from the 142nd position in 2014 to 63rd in 2020 was in marked contrast to the dismal show in the ease of registering property, where India’s ranking improved only marginally from 166 in 2019 to 154 in 2020.
Recent Related News:
i.On December 7, 2020 Mastercard, National Institute for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (ni-msme) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) entered into partnership to launch Digital Saksham, a capacity building initiative to drive awareness about digitization for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises(MSMEs) in India.
ii.Madhya Pradesh (MP) & Andhra Pradesh (AP) became the 1st Group of States to complete three out of the Four citizen schemes stipulated by Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance.
About National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER):
Establishment– 1956
President– Nandan M Nilekani
Headquarters– New Delhi, Delhi
