THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: To make the land transactions more transparent and effective, Kerala, for the first time in the country, will link Aadhaar and land revenue details with a Unique Thandaper Number (UTN), which will allow the authorities to identify the total land in possession of a person in just one click.
The state has issued a gazette notification for linking the Aadhaar with land records with the consent of the owners.
A 13-digit unique thandaper (the revenue record of a property) number will be issued to the land owner once the Aadhaar is linked. The Union Science and Technology Department had granted its approval to implement the scheme on August 23 following a proposal submitted by the state government.
The properties of a landowner, irrespective of location of his/her land holdings in the state, will then be registered under this single unique ‘thandaper.’
UTN to help authorities curb benami transactions
The UTN will help authorities to tighten the noose around fraudulent land transactions such as the practice of registering properties in benami names, identifying the excess land, streamlining land revenue records and providing better online services for beneficiaries, maintaining accuracy in land records, identifying ineligible people drawing benefits under various schemes by concealing their land details, misusing various revenue rules etc. This Aadhaar - based revenue record of property will also help authorities in revenue recovery, settling property disputes and investigation.
At present, a person can register properties in various locations after producing different identification documents which may have different addresses, creating difficulty for authorities to ascertain the total land in possession of a person. With the implementation of UTN, the details regarding the land holding(s) of an individual will be available in this number irrespective of the location or districts.