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MP, West Bengal and Odisha top in land records’ digitisation

The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) released its NCAER Land Record and Services Index (N-LRSI) 2021, revealing that almost all States/Union Territories have shown an improvement in their efforts to digitise land records compared to the previous year.

Madhya Pradesh has emerged as the top performer for the second year in a row, followed by West Bengal, Odisha, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

While Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have maintained their positions, West Bengal has moved up four ranks, from rank six to two. Odisha and Maharashtra, which ranked second and third in N-LRSI 2020, has fallen by one rank each to take up rank three and four in this year’s index.

This is the second edition of the Index, which has been supported by Omidyar Network India, through its Property Rights Research Consortium initiative which aims to enable evidence-based solutions for securing land, housing and property rights in India.

The N-LRSI 2021 is based on data collected over 2020-21 on two aspects of the supply of land records—the extent of digitisation of land records and the quality of these land records.

The N-LRSI 2021 is an integral part of the NCAER Land Policy Initiative (N-LPI) launched in 2019 with the aim of filling the gaps in economic research, policy analysis, and systematic data on land.

Speaking at the launch, Shilpa Kumar, Partner, Omidyar Network India, said, “Accurate and reliable data with regards to the ownership and details of land and property can help every Indian to ascertain their land assets and enable easier transfer and access to credit. Given that land & property is the largest asset class in the country, the impact of accessible property records can have a substantive impact on improving lives. We hope that this index will continue to nudge state governments to focus on digitisation of records, as well as provide policymakers a tool that will provide them evidence-based insight to create more effective and targeted approach towards property rights.”

Team leader Deepak Sanan at NCAER noted that “It is a matter of great satisfaction that objective of the N-LRSI has fructified to a considerable extent. Mean scores on the index have risen by more than 16 pc in one year. The N-LRSI has clearly demonstrated potential as a credible instrument that can enable progress in the goal of creating more comprehensive, accurate, accessible and user-friendly land records and processes across the country.”