Digital survey reveals additional land for 35% of owners; New law to grant ownership rights

Kollam: A recent digital survey has revealed that 35% of landowners possess additional land than recorded in their official documents. The government is preparing a new law to grant ownership rights for this additional land, which could benefit millions of people.

Under the new legislation, if the digital survey finds that a property exceeds the area listed in Aadhaar records, the owner will be granted title for the additional land, provided there are no disputes with neighbours or the government. For example, if a property is officially recorded as 10 cents but the survey shows 12 cents, ownership rights will be given for 12 cents. The law is expected to be introduced in the next assembly session.

The legislation will likely allow landowners to secure ownership of additional land without incurring additional fees. However, if the survey shows less land than originally documented, ownership will only be confirmed for the measured area.

During a survey of 206 villages, it was found that 9.7 lakh out of 28 lakh land parcels had excess land. This finding has led the government to move forward with the new law.

Currently, landowners can only sell the amount of land recorded in their documents. With the new law, they will receive legal documentation for the full amount of land they actually possess. High-level meetings led by Revenue Minister K Rajan have been held to finalise the draft law, which will take into account boundaries, descriptions, and survey numbers. NITI Aayog has recommended that states enact similar legislation.

A decision on whether a fee will be charged for the regularisation of surplus land is still pending.