The problem associated in the ownership and transfer on property, especially land is not new to India. For decades there have been minor changes but a big change is yet to come.
Property ownership right in India is so poor than it ranks 62 in the world IPR Index. The study was conducted in 129 countries. Finland, Norway and New Zealand grabbed the top three spot.
Anupam Srivastav, Advocate & Founder Partner said that capital goods should be easily movable like currency but at present there are lots of hurdles. “Restriction on the use of land and land ceiling needs to be sorted out to improve property holding in India,” said Srivastav in New Delhi.
The land ceiling acts define the size of land that an individual/family can own. In India, by 1961-62, all the state governments have passed the land ceiling acts. The range of land ceiling varies from 12.5 acre to 58 acre in Indian states.
The land ceiling also deals with the acquisition of surplus land and its redistribution among the small farmers and landless workers. But the progress of redistribution of surplus land has been unsatisfactory.
Another problem associated with land ownership is the absence of a common platform where all the records are kept.
Barun Mitra, Founder-Director, Liberty Institute says that technology can play a vital role in solving many problems. “The government should systematically work together to digitalized all the data regarding land holdings.”
The number of property related conflicts is very high in India. Around 66 per cent of the cases registered with the lower judiciary falls under the aforesaid category.
“One way to solve the problem is to increase the number of recruitments in the lower judiciary and to incentivise them in the lines of developed nations,” says an expert.
Annurag Batra, Chairman and Editor-in-chief, BW|Businessworld said, “It’s a complex issue and involves many domains. It will take a strong political will to bring a change.”
Land Use Abuse in a Nutshell
The problem of land use abuse stems from the fact that the property right holders are instigated to sell their properties at dirt cheap prices after their property is termed as non-usable and sold off to builders or other beneficiaries. The builder/beneficiary sells the land further to consumers of the land in the shape of houses, plots etc. and benefits highly from the above. The original owner of the land, when he comes to know about this, acts and produces the case in court. The case prolongs and all the two parties get affected the most: The original owner who is worst off, and the customer who has bought the land from the builder. The Indian court systems delay the process and the outcome is negligible.
BW Reporters
The author is Senior Correspondent with BW Businessworld
