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Journalism of Courage
The rectangular symbol at the bottom of a Web page printout does not look very impressive. But for lakhs of farmers, developers and property owners in Maharashtra, the digital signature will soon stand for transparency, accessibility and trust in the state’s land records.
After making details of all land records public on a website in 2005, Maharashtra is planning to usher in a new era of transparency into land deals and transactions by introducing a unique talathi digital signature system in January. The system will make it possible to download and take a printout of land record extracts from its website, which will be treated as valid legal documents.
To start off, the state will provide access to authenticated land record printouts to various government departments including the Anti Corruption Bureau, Income-Tax and various farmer-lending institutions through its website — mahabhulekh.mumbai.nic.in — in January. Once the system is in place, it will give “all and sundry” full access to the printout facility.
“The mystery surrounding land record documents locked away in the basta of a talathi will disappear after the documents are made easily accessible. The facility will not only enhance capabilities of government and semi government departments but will also do away with shady deals,” Settlements Commissioner and Director of land records, Maharashtra TC Benjamin says.
With the printout facility set to start by January-end, various government departments have lined up to take lessons for using the system. While Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) will use it to identify and gather proof on corrupt government officials, the I-T Department plans to track land deals and disproportionate assets of individuals.
Tracking assets of individuals will be a click away and the legally valid printout will give them required proof. “It took us months and even years to trace land records earlier. Our officials had to travel to villages and land record offices in far off places to check property of government officials,” Superintendent of Police CG Kumbhar, ACB, Pune range, says. Online tracking will also be a non-intrusive method that will save embarrassment to honest individuals under investigation.
However, the real potential of the system will get unlocked only after the government decides to roll out the system for everyone later this year. “By making legal record of rights available to all and sundry a revolutionary change will take place in land record administration. According to a McKinsey report, the single process of making records transparent and trustworthy can boost the GDP of a state by two per cent,” Benjamin says.
A variety of user groups — investors, land developers, semi-government and government bodies, farmers, property owners, NGOs and farmer rights protection groups — will be the beneficiaries. “If we get the facility of accessing records from the village itself, it will save us a lot of time, money and hassle,” a farmer from Pisapur village in the Wardha district, Sanjay Deshmukh, says.
An added benefit for farmers will be easier and faster processing of loans by lending institutions. A farmer will not have to run around for obtaining his ‘7/12’ land right — mandatory for processing a loan — as lending institutions will have direct access to records through the website.
The system, endorsed by the State Level Banker’s Committee (SLBC), will cut down on at least two trips to a talathi. A farmer presently has to procure the 7/12 documents before applying for a loan as proof of land and has to revisit the talathi after the loan gets approved to enter the mortgage amount on the document. “It doesn’t make sense for a farmer if it takes weeks to catch up with the talathi and pay him the going rate of Rs 300 each time just to obtain a loan of Rs 10,000. This leads to the private loan trap,” a farmer rights activist says.
Lending institutions, which have a tough time verifying 7/12 documents of prospective borrowers, say the system will cut down the loan processing time. “The minimum period of seven days to process a loan will remain in place but verification of the records will be much faster. It will make our job easier as the exact location of the land as well as information on the type of crops grown on it will be available on the website,” KS Padmanaban, General Manager, Maharashtra regional office of NABARD, says.
Going that extra mile
A centrally sponsored scheme, computerisation of land records in the state started in 2003 with the entire records going online in a website in March 2005. While the Centre’s mandate was just to computerise the records, the state went forward to introduce the digital talathi signature system in 2006. While there is no given deadline for the project, the digital signature system will be in place by January end. The government has spent close to Rs 28 crore on the project and a further Rs 50 lakh will be required for completion.
