Though the government has denied issuing any definite order to link land and property documents to Aadhaar card, there is strong indication that the law may soon come into effect. According to news reports, all states and union territories have to digitise land records by 15th August and properties have to be linked to Aadhaar cards. *But a clarification issued by the Press Information Bureau has stated that the letter purported to be circulated by the government is false.
Digitisation of land records
Though linking of land records to Aadhaar card number is still under a cloud of uncertainty, the order for digitisation of all property records is valid and has been completed in several states like Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Chattisgarh. These states have decided to carry out the process of linking property documents to Aadhaar numbers by July 2017 to tackle benami properties.
As a first step towards this process, all states and union territories have already made it mandatory for all buyers and sellers of property to furnish details of their Aadhaar card to register the deal.
Progress of linking Aadhaar card to land registration across states
In Karnataka, the Department of Survey Settlement and Land Records (SSLR) will first start the process of linking Aadhaar card with land records in Bengaluru to remove benami property registrations and put a stop to the rampant practice of multiple sales of one property in the city.
Jharkhand has decided to make Aadhaar mandatory for all land records after a review meeting of land reform and revenue department by the Chief Secretary. This ruling mandates that witnesses also have to carry their Aadhaar card with them during the land registration process to ensure that there is no duplicity as before.
In Uttar Pradesh, the revenue department has started linking farmers’ land records to their Aadhaar cards to secure ownership and ensure a reduction in cases of land grabbing. According to the state in-charge at the National Informatics Centre, all the land records across the state are already online, and the process of linking each land record to Aadhaar will be completed by November 2017.
Haryana has also almost completed digitisation of its land records and has already made the information public online. It is now in the process of linking it to Aadhaar, and as the card is linked to the PAN number, it will be easy to find out if it is a benami property. This will put an end to people registering land in the names of their servants or family members to avoid taxes.
In Noida, which is a part of Uttar Pradesh, administrators have taken up a project to provide all property-related documents with digital identities that will make them unique. Governments in states like Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Gujarat have set up portals to allow buyers to send online applications for registration of their properties to reduce chances of distress sales during natural calamities. The governments of these states are insisting on linking Aadhaar details with land records to slowly abolish the practice of taking in two witnesses for the registration of land sale each time.
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