Delhi govt starts putting out land data online to prevent fraud cases

Amid cases of public land being "fraudulently" transferred to private entities, the Delhi government started uploading data pertaining to evacuee properties, Gram Sabha and acquired land on its portal

Amid cases of public land being "fraudulently" transferred to private entities, the Delhi government has started uploading data pertaining to evacuee properties, Gram Sabha and acquired land on its portal to prevent such scams.

Recently, on the intervention of Lieutenant Governor, two sub-divisional magistrates and a deputy secretary were suspended while recommendation was made for the suspension of an additional district magistrate over the alleged transfer of evacuee land in North Delhi.

Also, a sub-registrar and a 'kanoon' were suspended for their alleged involvement in a similar "fraud" in South Delhi.

"We are uploading data on evacuee properties, Gram Sabha land and acquired land or under the process of acquisition, on our portal," a senior revenue department officer said.

It will help sub-registrars to determine if the land being registered by them is already acquired or under the process of acquisition, he said.

"We are trying to bring data of different land records on a portal that will help the officials concerned to check the status of land being registered. It will also prevent any chances of corruption and speed up the process of registry," the official said.

Before registration, the sub-registrars require some No Objection Certificates (NOCs), including one from land acquisition collectors to ascertain whether the land being registered is acquired or not, officials said.

The data on acquired properties will also be uploaded on the portal so that the sub-registrars will not have to wait for the NOC and they could check status of the land on their computers.

"In case data of land acquired or under the process for acquisition is not available on the portal and it is registered, the sub-registrar will not be responsible. The sub-divisional magistrates conduct the process of acquisition and upload the data," the revenue officer said.

This will save time for people getting their properties registered because currently, when papers are submitted for registration of any property, the sub-registrar seeks the report on its status and it is time consuming, he said.

"This is a dark area as the report takes 15 days to a month and the property registration is delayed. This also leaves room for corruption that we are trying to eliminate," he added.

Officials said there are around 600-700 evacuee properties in Delhi. Such properties are also known as enemy properties belonging to those people who migrated to Pakistan after partition in 1947.

There are 105 villages, including 34 rural villages and rest urbanised villages, in the national capital as per the last census, they added.