Conclusive land titling system and its significance "EMPOWER IAS"

 

In news:

• The Centre wants to reform the country’s land markets through a fundamental legal and procedural shift in how land titles are awarded.

 

Background:

• Land tenure system is the most vital institution which governs the use of land for any agriculture related economically productive pursuit. It relates to two aspects. 

1. Firstly, the traditional or legal rights an individual or a group of individuals have on land and 
2. Secondly, the social relationships among the rural population that emerges from such land rights.

• Land titling is a form of land reform in which private individuals and families are given formal property rights for land which they have previously occupied informally or used on the basis of customary land tenure.

 

Land ownership in India

• In India, land ownership is determined through various records such as sale deeds that are registered, property tax documents, government survey records, etc.
• Land ownership is broadly defined by access to a land title.  Land Title is a document that determines the ownership of land or immovable property.
• Having a clear land title protects the rights of the titleholder against other claims made by anyone else to the property.

 

What is the news?

• In 2020, even as laws for farm reform and labour code reform were being enacted, the government’s think tank, NITI Aayog, took steps to initiate land reforms.
• A Model Bill on Conclusive Land Titling was sent to States and Union Territories last June seeking their comments.
• In September, after many States failed to send in their feedback, the Centre warned that their agreement would be presumed.

 

Conclusive land titling system

• Land records designate actual ownership. 
• The title is granted by the government, which takes the responsibility for accuracy. Once a title is granted, any other claimant will have to settle disputes with the government, not the title holder. 
• Further, under conclusive land titling, the government may provide compensation to claimants in case of disputes, but the title holder is not in any danger of losing ownership.

 

Development towards Conclusive Land Titling in India:

1. Currently, land records systems in the country represent the Zamindari and Ryotwari models.
2. The importance of updating land records was emphasized long back in the First Five-year Plan (1951). But the land records saw little improvement.
3. In 1989, the D.C Wadhwa committee (single-member committee) studied the land records and released a report titled “Guaranteeing Title to Land”. In that, it mentioned the importance of conclusive titles to the people.
4. Digital India Land Record Modernization Programme was launched in India, in 2008 with the objective of digitization of land records. This also highlighted the importance of moving away from the current Presumptive land titling to Conclusive land titling.
5. In 2011, the government drafted a Model Land Titling Bill 2011. The bill asked the state government to move towards Conclusive titling. But only Rajasthan and Maharashtra enacted the law and took a few steps.
6. In 2020, the NITI Aayog released the model Bill on Conclusive Land Titling. This was sent to the States and Union Territories for getting their feedback. However, many States failed to send their feedback. Following which the Centre recently warned that the model bill would be concluded.

 

The current system of land titling

• In India, land ownership is determined through various records such as sale deeds that are registered, property tax documents, government survey records, etc.
• India currently follows a system of presumptive land titling.
• In this system, the land records are maintained, with information on possession, which is determined through details of past transactions.
• Ownership, then, is established on the basis of current possession. 
• Registration of land is actually a registration of transactions, such as sale deeds, records of inheritance, mortgage and lease. 
• Holding registration papers does not actually involve the government or the legal framework guaranteeing the ownership title of the land.

 

How it is different from the present one?

• India at present follows the Presumptive land titling method. The difference between the two is mentioned in the following table:

 

Presumptive Land Titling system	Conclusive Land Titling system
In the current system,  ownership is granted based on a record of the property transaction between the buyer and the seller (registered sales deed). The buyer is not entitled to the previous ownership records of the property. Hence, this system is called a presumptive one	In a conclusive titling system, the government provides guaranteed titles. These land records designate actual ownership.
It means the registration of land is actually a registration of transactions, such as sale deeds, records of inheritance, mortgage, and lease. So, anyone can dispute the transactions with the titleholder.	The title is granted by the government. So, if there is a dispute, then the claimant has to settle disputes with the government, not the titleholder.
If the disputed claimant proves the land as his property, then he will be the new titleholder and the previous titleholder will lose his/her ownership.	Further, according to agricultural economist T. Haque, the government may provide compensation to claimants in case of disputes. But the titleholder is not in any danger of losing ownership
These are not the government-guaranteed title to the property. These are only a record of the transfer of property.	These are the guaranteed title to the property.

 

 

How does the current system work?

• India currently follows a system of presumptive land titling.
• This means that land records are maintained, with information on possession, which is determined through details of past transactions.
• Ownership, then, is established on the basis of current possession. Registration of land is actually a registration of transactions, such as sale deeds, records of inheritance, mortgage and lease.
• Holding registration papers does not actually involve the government or the legal framework guaranteeing the ownership title of the land.

 

 

What will change in the new system?

• On the other hand, under a conclusive land titling system, land records designate actual ownership.
• The title is granted by the government, which takes the responsibility for accuracy.
• Once a title is granted, any other claimant will have to settle disputes with the government, not the titleholder.

 

Draft model Act on land titles:

• The Bill calls for Land Authorities to be set up by each State government, which will appoint a Title Registration Officer (TRO) to prepare and publish a draft list of land titles based on existing records and documents. 
• If disputing claims are received, the TRO will verify all the relevant documents and refer the case to a Land Dispute Resolution Officer (LDRO) for resolution. 
• However, disputes which are already pending in courts cannot be resolved in this way.
• Having considered and resolved all the disputed claims, the Land Authority will publish a Record of Titles. 
• Over a three-year period, these titles and the decisions of the TRO and the LDRO can be challenged before Land Titling Appellate Tribunals, which will be set up under the law. 
• After a three-year period, entries in the Record of Titles will be considered conclusive proof of ownership. 
• Further appeals can only be taken up in High Courts.

 

Need for and significance of Conclusive Land titles:

• Conclusive land titles are guaranteed by the state for their correctness and entail provision for compensation by the state in case of any disputes.
• Conclusive land titling will facilitate easy access of credit to farmers and reduce a large number of land-related litigations.
• It will also enable transparent real estate transactions and land acquisition for infrastructure development.
• Guaranteed title systems have been developed and adopted in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

• The main advantage is that a conclusive system will drastically lower litigation related to land.
• According to a 2007 World Bank study on ‘Land Policies for growth and poverty reduction’, land-related disputes accounted for two-thirds of all pending court cases in India.
• A NITI Aayog study on strengthening arbitration estimated that disputes on land or real estate take an average time of 20 years in the courts to be resolved.

 

What are the difficulties?

• The introduction of a Conclusive Land Titling system can be feasible with proper land records. But, there are many challenges associated with the land records in India. They are,

1. Land is a State subject in India. The individual States are responsible for the proper implementation of land records. In the absence of a uniform system, existing land records are maintained in different scripts and languages in different States.
2. Land records are not updated for decades, especially in rural and semi-urban areas. Conclusive land titles can create more problems if the land records are not updated.
3. In India, the majority of the land records are in the name of the grandparents of the current owner, with no proof of inheritance.

 

Suggestions:

India needs to move towards proper land records, then only we can shift towards a Conclusive Land Titling system. The government can follow suggestions like,

1. Implementing the recommendation of the Committee on State Agrarian Relation in 2007. The committee recommended,
   • A comprehensive village-level survey with community involvement is required to solve the land-related problems.
   • Providing adequate skill training to the local government employees.
   • Further, it suggested that the government should use technologies such as GIS, GPS, and satellite imagery to update land records.
2. Further, the government needs to integrate the cadastral maps (Comprehensive land maps) with textual data of land. This can be performed during the sale, inheritance, purchase, gift, mortgage, and tenancy of a property. This will ensure complete information with relation to land is available and updated.
3. Apart from that, the government also needs to amend laws across the Centre and States to ensure uniformity in land records.

4. Apart from that,  forgery, cases of fraud, and misconduct surrounding land ownership are also there in India. This increases the ownership disputes reaching courts and overburden the judicial mechanism.