Land docus: Centre plans RoR in 22 languages

NEW DELHI: For Ravinder Singh, a Delhi-based professional, acquiring a small plot of agricultural land in Karnataka was an anxious journey mainly because of land documents which were all in the local language. “I had to depend on local brokers and lawyers to understand the documents. They were not even in the English language,” Singh said.

Like Singh, many people across the country are facing linguistic barriers in land records, which the government now wants to address by translating the Record of Rights (RoR) in 22 languages.

A Record of Rights or RoR or jamabandi is a type of land record which captures the details of landholdings. “One of the biggest issues with land records is language. In India, there are multiple languages. We are trying to do the translation of the RoR,” said Sonmoni Borah, Joint Secretary, Department of Land Resources. This department falls under the Union Ministry of Rural Development.

A pilot has already been conducted in eight states: Maharashtra, Bihar, Gujarat, Puducherry, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and Jammu & Kashmir, he said.

“A software is ready. We will roll it out anytime,” Borah said.

The translation of RoRs in 22 languages will not be done in one go. Initially, the states will be asked to go for translation of RoRs in three compulsory languages i.e English, Hindi and state language, and three optional languages which states can identify as per their requirement, he said.

“This will break the linguistic barrier in land records. The ambitious project of multi-lingual RoRs is estimated to cost about Rs 11 crore and the target is to complete in one year,” he added.

Borah said the structure of the RoR and information it provides differ from state to state.

Typically, an RoR provides names of all persons who have acquired some rights with regard to the land; the nature and limits of their rights, and the rent or revenue to be paid by them. These rights could be ownership, long-term lease-holds, or tenancy related, he said.