Assessment of Land Record Management System in India- Mapping the Buyer Journey, Case of Gurugram

Land is a unique commodity which, in addition to having economic value, has a huge social impact associated with it. Land ownership is established through land titles managed under the land record management system. Any prospective buyer wanting to buy a land parcel in India has to go through a three-tier process of registry, revenue records and spatial records. This entire system under the land record management system comes under the deed registration system followed in our country, which has various historical, governance, and administrative issues associated with it. The government has taken multiple steps to improve the system through interventions like digitisation, GIS mapping, integration, etc. The study presents a framework to evaluate the land record management system with respect to the stakeholder perspective, i.e., the buyer who goes through the entire process of the system. The evaluation methodologies followed were both quantitative and qualitative. Qualitative research helped to establish the parameters on which the system must be evaluated. A pilot study was conducted to narrow down the parameters in the context of the study area. Further, quantitative analysis was conducted using statistical method based on responses collected through a structured questionnaire. The result of the analysis suggested that focusing on digitisation will not contain the bottlenecks faced by the buyers. Rather, a holistic approach in the context of integration at the registry, revenue and spatial aspects must be adopted in the country. It is time the registration system followed in the country migrates from deed registration to title registration system.