Draft operational guidelines of digital india land records modernization programme (dilrmp) introduction

5.2 Procedural Changes for maintenance of Land Records
5.2.1 The States/UTs should carry out the procedural changes, wherever necessary, including the following:

1. 
   Simplify/amend/revise/prepare the land records, manuals, RoR formats on land records maintenance procedures for the entire State/UT.
   
2. 
   Standardize the codifications, feature codes etc. in case of cadastral maps, RoRs and other land attributes. Standard data codes for land attributes have been prepared by the NIC and placed on the DoLR web site http://dolr.gov.in.
   
3. 
   Confer legal sanctity to the computerized land record extracts as the official records.
   
4. 
   Discontinue manual land record writing and issuing of hand-written copies of the RoRs, once the computerized system stabilizes.
   

5.2.2 Wherever a State Government/UT Administration adopts any procedure detailed in these Guidelines and Technical Manuals, it must ensure that it is duly incorporated in the relevant State/UT laws/rules/regulations/manuals or that the same are duly amended to ensure their legal validity.
5.3 Digitization of Maps and its Integration with Textual and Spatial Data
5.3.1 There is an urgent need to convert the existing cadastral maps into GIS- encoded digital mode to facilitate updating of cadastral maps in sync with the changes made in the RoRs. RoRs provide information on ownership of land, its classification, uses, irrigation status, etc. Detailed attributes of every piece of land, called “parcel” or “plot”, shall be shown in the digital map accurately in 1:4000 scale. The smallest piece of land that can be measured is 1 decimal (1/100^th of an acre) i.e. 435.6 sq. feet. Changes in a cadastral map may take place due to various reasons, e.g. a plot of land may have been further sub-divided into two or more sub-plots and transferred to other persons by way of deed of gift or sale or inheritance, or conversion of classification of land use. The need for indicating these changes in the map arises every time a change as mentioned above takes place so as to depict the ground reality.
5.3.2 Broadly, there are two ways in which spatial data have been organized in the country. In certain States/UTs, village maps with parcel boundaries are used, whereas, in certain other States, ladder data on individual land parcels or tippans or field measurement books (FMBs) or gat maps are used. In most parts of the country, the land parcels depicted in village maps are covered in one or more sheets, depending upon the scale of mapping and area of the village. These village maps/sheets will be considered as the basic input for digitization and mosaicing of the cadastral maps in these States/UTs. In other States/UTs, where ladder data or gat maps/tippans/FMBs are used, the same will be taken for digitization and further mosaicing of the maps.
5.3.3 GIS encoded digitization of cadastral maps and their integration with RoRs involve the following steps:
1. Scanning of the village map or part of the village map and feeding this scanned map into the computer to create a computer image of the map which is known as a raster map.
2. The next step involves going over the outline of the village boundary on the computer image of the map with the mouse and marking the outlines of each plot. This process, known as vectorisation, provides the coordinates of each point on the map.
3. A printout of this vectorised map is given to the Revenue Department by the digitizing agency for thorough checking with the original cadastral map. The Revenue Department checks the vectorised map on a glass table with the original map placed below it. This process is known as the table check. Every line and point on the two maps have to match. The correctness of the digitized map is certified by the Revenue Department. If any error is detected, the same has to be rectified by the vendor/digitizing agency.
4. The software used in the digitization process creates a number of files. Each of these files pertains to a GIS-based layer and each layer consists of three files. The GIS data are organized in layers. Each layer contains a subset of information that would be present on a regular map, such as (1) geographic information (where something is located), (2) attributes information (what is located at a specific location), and (3) its interlinking information. These three sets of information are represented in three physical files in the computer. For example, the software used in West Bengal uses 9 GIS-based layers and creates 27 files. In addition, 8 to 11 other files, known as database files and image files, are also created, totaling from 35 to 38 files. All the files are placed in a storage device (e.g., a CD) and given to the Revenue Department for checking. If any error is detected, the same has to be rectified.
5. The GIS layers are of three types: point layers, line layers & area layers. Each of the 9 GIS layers mentioned above belongs to one of the three types. Symbols (known as alamats in West Bengal) are used to record the legends that have been made on the map such as wells, temples, etc. These alamats are incorporated in all the three layers, i.e., point, line and area layers.
6. Once the Revenue Department clears the vectorised map and the files, the digitizing agency proceeds to add each of the handwritten information on the original map except the signature at the bottom.
5.3.4 Integration of spatial database with textual RoR data involves the following process:
1. Each plot of land is represented on the digital map as a closed polygon. Each polygon is identified by a unique plot number, which, for example, in West Bengal is a 5 digit number. In the textual RoR database, each plot is also referenced by this unique plot number. This provides a basis for integration of digital map data with the textual RoR data.
2. The basic textual RoR database consists of several tables (in West Bengal, 7 main tables & several master tables) which provide information on ownership, land classification, etc. All the tables are linked by certain common data fields, for example, in West Bengal, by two common data fields, which are: