THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Over 100 villages in Kerala have adopted total digitisation in land transaction and records management, thanks to the digital resurvey programme. With another 200 villages set to join the fold by February-end, the government plans to try out AI-powered chatbot and voicebot for personalised land-related customer services.
So far, digital resurvey is completed in 458 villages. Final maps have been published for 101 villages among them. Draft maps have been published for other villages where residents are given time to raise complaints. The resurvey has covered 9.05 lakh hectares, and a milestone of 10 lakh hectares will be achieved by February-end.
All land-related services in the 101 villages, including land registration and subsequent record changes in Revenue and Survey departments, are now digital. They are performed through an Integrated Land Information Management System (ILIMS). The front-end of ILIMS is “Ente Bhoomi”, a portal through which citizens can access all land-related services. Besides land transactions, the portal provides services like premutation sketch, encumbrance certificate, land tax payment, fair value information, auto mutation, location sketch and re-categorisation of land.
The 101 villages brought under the ILIMS have accurate and updated land documents. In Kerala, land records are kept by three government departments - Revenue, Registration and Survey. Under the existing system, original maps with the Survey Department are not updated after land transactions. In villages covered under ILIMS, land registrations get reflected in the records with all the three departments.
The Ente Bhoomi is a model project in modernisation of land administration, says Sambasiva Rao, Director of the Survey Department. "Modernisation of land administration has long been recognised as essential to improving ease of living and attracting investment. Yet, it has remained one of India’s most complex administrative challenges. Through Ente Bhoomi, we have demonstrated a model solution to this age-old puzzle by enabling comprehensive modernization of land administration. Our mission has been simple and citizen-centric: to provide maximum convenience, transparency, and efficiency for people while accessing land-related services across departments," Sambasiva Rao said.
Unified interface
Kerala implemented the country’s first end-to-end digital survey solution — hailed as a national model
ILIMS is country’s first digitally integrated land portal — A single interface offering all land-related services
Digital Land Transaction
The process starts with the buyer or seller applying for Thandaper certificate and Digital Premutation Sketch (DPS) of the property through the Ente Bhoomi portal. These documents will be uploaded on the portal by the village office and survey office respectively.
Afterwards, the land owner can fill-in the template of the transaction deed available on the portal. Details of the land will appear automatically and the seller has the option to make any specific condition regarding the transaction. It is then submitted to the Registration Department online. After land registration, the Registration Department will push the document to the Village Office and Survey Department for conducting mutation and Land Parcel Map updation respectively.
Chatbots, Voicebots
The government plans to launch AI-powered chatbot and voicebot to give personalised services for Ente Bhoomi users. The voice bot project will be implemented with support from the Kerala Startup Mission. Earlier a toll-free number was launched to clear people’s doubts on resurvey and ILIMS services. With more villages coming under the ILIMS, the department expects a surge in queries and hence the chatbot and voicebot