Associated News Bureau

CS Reviews progress of digitization & modernization of land records in J&K

SRINAGAR, MAY 26: Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, today chaired a review meeting to assess the progress achieved under the ongoing digitization and modernization of land records across Jammu and Kashmir, with a strong emphasis on ensuring accurate, transparent and technology-driven revenue administration in the Union Territory. The meeting was attended by Financial Commissioner (Additional Chief Secretary), Revenue; Secretary, Revenue; Divisional Commissioner, Jammu/Kashmir; Commissioner, Survey & Land Records; Inspector General, Registration; State Informatics Officer (SIO), NIC and other senior officers, while all the Deputy Commissioners participated through video conferencing. During the meeting, the Chief Secretary underscored the significance of correct and updated land records for the effective implementation of welfare schemes and facilitating quick access to institutional credit through integration with the Unified Lending Interface (ULI) and AgriStack initiatives. He observed that the successful digitization of land records would play a transformative role in strengthening governance, improving service delivery and empowering farmers through seamless access to benefits and financial services. The Chief Secretary directed the concerned Tehsildars to certify that no backlog mutations remain pending in their respective jurisdictions. He further called for the freezing of Jamabandis by the Tehsildars, Sub-Divisional Magistrates and eventually the Deputy Commissioners in the coming days to ensure that the authentic and reliable digitized records are put in public domain for its utilization by citizens here. To accelerate the process of rectification and updation of records, the Chief Secretary directed for designation of Prabhari Officers in consultation with the Financial Commissioner (Revenue). These officers would be entrusted with exclusive responsibility of handholding districts and ensuring timely correction and validation of records. Emphasizing the need for a clear roadmap for implementation of AgriStack components, the Chief Secretary directed that the exercise should be taken up immediately after completion of digitization in the identified areas and linked with the RBI’s ULI platform to facilitate easy credit access for farmers. He urged the Settlement Commissioner to lead the capacity building programme for field staff across districts and ensure completion of the process in a time-bound manner. The Chief Secretary also stressed upon transitioning fully towards digital crop surveys during the upcoming agricultural seasons for effective implementation of AgriStack. He further directed the Financial Commissioner (Revenue) to evolve a mechanism for tracing the chain of custody of missing Mussavis and revenue records and initiate strict action against officials found responsible for any tampering or disappearance of records. Commending the Revenue Department for undertaking the monumental task of digitization and achieving substantial progress, the Chief Secretary advised the officers to make concerted efforts to complete all components within the stipulated timelines. He also assured full support in resolving genuine issues being faced by the field functionaries engaged in the exercise. Speaking during the meeting, Financial Commissioner (Revenue), Shaleen Kabra, emphasized upon the Deputy Commissioners to undertake rectification of records strictly in accordance with the prevailing legal provisions, particularly Section 32 of the Land Revenue Act, which empowers them to carry out such corrections. He observed that timely rectification at the district level would substantially reduce the burden of grievances reaching higher offices and help in making the land records largely error-free. The Financial Commissioner also stressed upon tracing the complete custody trail of missing records so that the actual culprits are identified and proceeded against under the law. Earlier, Secretary Revenue gave a detailed presentation on the progress achieved under various components of the digitization programme. The presentation covered the functioning of the citizen-centric ‘J&K Zameen Sudhar Portal’, digitization of backlog mutations for updation of records, digitization of cadastral maps, sub-parcelization of survey numbers as per ground realities, generation of ULPIN for Farmer Registry, Digital Crop Survey, BhuNaksha integration and issuance of property cards under the SVAMITVA scheme. He further informed the meeting that significant progress has been achieved in digitization of Jamabandis with all 20 districts and 206 tehsils brought under the programme. Over 68 lakh records have been approved and digitized so far, reflecting substantial progress achieved since the last review held in March this year.