Unique Property IDs will weed out multiple khatas

Experts and realtors have welcomed the announcement that properties in Bangalore would be issued unique identification numbers to address the problem created by multiple khatas, for which they hold official connivance and manual maintenance of records that make tampering easy responsible. 

Civic analyst V Ravichandar says there are many properties within the city that have not been converted for non-agricultural use and even if converted, the relevant fee remained unpaid. Such land may not be part of BBMP records. In cases like this, records are tampered with and multiple khatas issued. 

"Khata is only a record and source of information to show who should pay the property tax and in whose name the property is. In itself it doesn't confer ownership of property. In properties where there are no records or where an official connives to issue khata, there can be a possibility of more than one khata," he observes. 

Ravichandar says that a single property could be bifurcated among multiple beneficiaries - say by partition among heirs or flats constructed in an apartment that stands on a piece of land. "So the key issue is the definition of a property - at the level of the individual or the aggregate. In this context, multiple khatas in themselves are not illegal if it can be proved that partition of property is valid and legal." 

"Digital records are any day better than paper records. The advantage arises from the digital capture of owner data and physical property. These are superior to any manual system that can be misused," he says. 

A city builder told TOI: "Where revenue property has no records, people connive with officials to generate a second khata for the same property.'' 

NOT A GUARANTEE 

India Urban Space Foundation chairperson Swati Ramanathan says that introducing smart cards is only the first step and it doesn't give the last mile. Like khatas, even property identification cards do not prove ownership of land, she feels. 

"It is only the guaranteed land title that would provide the ownership. Ministry of urban development, Government of India, in partnership with India Urban Space, began a project three months ago to introduce Project Platinum through legislation and provide the road map to implement guaranteed land title. This is important to protect social justice and property rights," she says. 

Why not certification? 

Citizen Action Forum president N S Mukunda suggests that the best way to reduce fabrication and falsification of documents is a certification of property ownership. "If the government gives a certificate of property or land ownership, it would reduce the misuse of documents," he says.