NEW DELHI, Sept 20:
![Minister for Revenue Raman Bhalla shaking hand with Union Rural Development Minister Jai Ram Ramesh during conference at New Delhi on Thursday.](http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/page5-124-150x150.jpg)
Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Raman Bhalla today said that the land settlement operation, going on in the State, would be completed in next six years.
Speaking at the Revenue Ministers Conference on ‘Modernisation of Land Records’ here today under the chairpersonship of the Union Rural Development Minister, Jai Ram Ramesh, Mr Bhalla said that the State, after a thorough review of the ongoing operation, has succeeded in reducing the survey and record preparation time per Khasara number from 4.28 hours to 0.50 hours making it possible to complete the entire operation in next five to six years.
Giving details about the initial problems the State faced in setting in the massive exercise, he said that State tried to eliminate the delays in the preliminary settlement work by de-compartmentalizing the field survey and generation of integrated RORs as far as possible. This will be carried out by making use of automation with very little reliance on the manual work.
He said that further it dovetailed the process of land settlement with digitization/computerization of land record under NLRMP. At the structural level, the integrative objective will be achieved through a zonal approach whereby each zone shall be put under the watch of a dedicated officer. At the personnel level, the objective will be achieved by enhancing the scope of brief of the officers to also cover the digitization/computerization part and, in parallel, appropriately re-designating the existing positions held by them.
Mr. Bhalla said State has set its sights on conclusive titling through the analysis of current land records, as it was seen as a panacea for all land related ills. This process of titling is colloquially called as ‘Chant’ and expected to be achieved through an inclusive software system.
We have found that during the land survey, maximum time is consumed on demarcation of common and State land boundaries. We aimed at cutting out this delay with the help of methods like vectorisation from the cadastral maps and ground truthing through ETS and other relevant technological tools. With such enabling tools, the time taken in surveying a single khasra number would further reduce from 0.59 hour to 0.1 hour”.
He said the State has recounted a few steps that will map the transition from the existing paradigm of computerization of survey and settlement records to a vastly different world of computerized survey and settlement. When completed, this will mark a significant break from what was being done in the past. However, he said this transition, of course, won’t be possible without appropriate financial assistance from the Central Government.
The Revenue Minister also raised the pattern of funding under National Land Record Management Programme to the J&K and Stated that the current pattern of 50:50 funding was not in line with the special category State status of the State. He appealed to the Union Rural Development Minister to consider revising the pattern of funding under this programme to the J&K on 90:10 pattern on the analogy of the north-eastern States.
Union Rural Development Minister agreed to consider the request of the State Government favourably.