SRINAGAR: With digitisation of land records underway in 4,519 of Jammu and Kashmir’s 6,857 villages and 52,265 property cards already distributed under the SVAMITVA scheme, the Union Territory administration has set a six-to-seven-month deadline for full modernisation of its land governance system.
Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, while chairing a high-level review of the ongoing Digitisation and Modernisation of Land Records project, said that though the process is complex and arduous, it is essential for ensuring transparency, accuracy in ownership, and improved land management across rural and urban areas.
The Chief Secretary directed that the entire digitisation exercise be completed with “utmost accuracy” and “strict timelines”, noting that most land-related disputes arise from flawed or outdated records. He called for regular monitoring of progress and instructed the Director, Land Records, to issue fresh guidelines for recreation of missing musavis (cadastral maps) in certain villages, with the task to be completed within two months.
The meeting, attended by Secretary, Revenue, Kumar Rajeev Ranjan; Director, Survey and Land Records; Inspector General, Registration; CEO, State Health Agency; and all Deputy Commissioners via video conferencing, took stock of multiple components under the Digital Land Records Modernisation Programme (DLRMP). These include digitisation of Jamabandis (Records of Rights), geo-referencing of cadastral maps, sub-parcelisation of survey numbers, end-to-end digitisation of registrations, modernisation of record rooms, computerisation of revenue courts, implementation of NAKSHA in Urban Local Bodies, and the SVAMITVA scheme for property card distribution.
The Revenue Secretary informed that digitisation of Jamabandis is progressing in 4,519 villages, with 600 villages already completed. A new backlog mutation module has been developed to update the Records of Rights up to 2025, and a proof of concept has been completed in five villages. Under the PM Gati Shakti initiative, parcel attribute updation is expected to conclude within a month. Out of 6,217 geo-referenced maps received by BISAG-N, 4,240 have been ground-truthed, while parcel attribution has been finalised for 3,489 villages using QGIS and ARC GIS tools.
The Chief Secretary was also informed that the computerised registration system will become fully paperless within two weeks, with digitisation of legacy data dating back to 1990 underway in collaboration with judicial courts.
Under the SVAMITVA scheme, drone surveys have been nearly completed and over 52,000 property cards issued across 1,200 villages, marking a major stride toward rural property ownership clarity. The NAKSHA project, aimed at mapping urban properties, is being piloted in four municipalities—Bishnah, Katra, Pattan, and Awantipora—with Bishnah nearing completion.
Reaffirming the government’s commitment to a “paradigm shift in land governance”, Dulloo said the modernisation drive would ensure seamless integration of all land record modules and drastically reduce disputes, enabling efficient land use and better public service delivery across Jammu and Kashmir. (KNO)
