The Revenue Department is working on a large-scale project to fix errors in digitized land records after complaints about inaccuracies caused problems for many people. These issues, like spelling mistakes, wrong entries, and poorly maintained records, have made it difficult for citizens to access their land information, especially in rural areas where records are outdated.
To address this, the department has directed officials to correct all types of errors, including mistakes in land ownership and tenancy details. These records, digitized years ago, were found to have many flaws. Over a year ago, Regional Director Offices (RDOs) were asked to hold meetings with Tahsildars (local revenue officials) and train field staff on how to make corrections. Tahsildars were told to verify records even if no formal complaints were made.
Although the corrections started months ago, the time given to complete the task has been too short. Errors are more common in urban areas with frequent land transactions, while rural areas with fewer land sales report fewer issues. Despite this, the department has promised to cross-check all digitized records with physical documents to ensure accuracy.
In addition, the department is exploring ways to automate name transfers for land records after sale deeds are registered. This system would link the land records with the Registration Department, speeding up the process and reducing delays. Currently, buyers often wait a long time for their names to appear in records, even for straightforward cases that don’t involve land subdivisions. Experts suggest that name transfers could be completed right at the registration office after a sale, minimizing human involvement and making the process faster. However, officials emphasize the need to collect contact details of buyers so they can receive notifications, such as SMS alerts, about updates to their records.
The digitization of land records was initially outsourced to a private company called RAMTECH, which worked around the clock on the project. However, problems surfaced during the final stages. A shortage of government technical staff led to over-reliance on RAMTECH, which scanned unnecessary or blank pages. This caused a dispute between the government and the company. To resolve this, the government ordered a recount of all scanned pages at the local and district levels.
Another problem is that some scanned documents uploaded by RAMTECH are mislabeled or inaccessible. For example, in Kurigam village, Anantnag district, trying to access records for one survey number might instead open a completely different document, like a mutation register. In many cases, users have to scroll through pages manually to find what they need, which wastes time.
There’s also an issue of village names being duplicated across different tehsils, causing records to be uploaded under the wrong locations. For instance, records for Shoolwanpora village in Anantnag were mistakenly placed under Sransoo Shampora village in Qazigund. Such errors must be fixed immediately to avoid confusion and ensure accurate records.
As the recount continues, it is expected that the final number of scanned pages will be lower than what RAMTECH initially reported. The government has recommended that the company review its work and make sure all scanned records open correctly. It also suggested that any mutations approved after the scanning should be immediately digitized and uploaded to avoid further delays.
The author of this report is an Office Patwari at the Qazigund Tehsil Office.
