Land is one of the most crucial and precious assets that mankind holds.  It is necessary for existence and development.  Land administration covers a gamut of aspects: land record, titling, fees, cess and taxes, modernizing land records, public land inventory and protecting them, urban master plans and many, many more. This is relevant for all countries. 

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In India as in most other nations land is the domain of the states or the regions as land-related nuances are too varied to be handled centrally.  In the state administration the Revenue Department is one of those omnipresent in all discussions along with Finance.  As Land Revenue Commissioner and Revenue Secretary I was called upon to attend many more meetings than what I did while holding charge of any other department.  Interestingly, apart from its omnipresence in policy-making and project planning, land matters are equally important at the cutting-edge or field level: to verify records, adjudicate on boundary and land use disputes, sharing of commons and usufructs, encroachments, illegal mining, destruction of hillocks, riverbanks and riverbeds and again, lots more. As SDMs, the entry-level position of the professional civil servant, one of our primary responsibilities is to protect the rights of the indigeneous and vulnerable communities.

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Land has a very important economic side too:  every parent in India desires to leave behind a piece of land, with or without a house on it, for their next generation. This is considered the best gift that any parent gives to her/ his children.  Fresh job-entrants invest in an apartment the moment they get a home loan.  The social aspect of land is no less crucial though at times it does convert into an egregious practice, like arranging a matrimonial match based on a family’s land holding or even gifting land as part of dowry. And who doesn’t enjoy the poetry of ‘desh-bhakti’ or patriotism composed by Tagore or Kazi Nazrul Islam or even Bollywood scripts of valour and making the ultimate sacrifice to protect one’s country?  I spent this morning trekking through a national park in Sydney where at regular intervals signages proclaim that the land belonged to the indigenous community. But we didn’t spot a single person from ‘the community’! Novak Djokovic after winning the Wimbledon each time made it a point to bow to the soil and chew on a leaf of grass that invariably got many of us emotional.  

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But, given the all-pervasiveness of land in our lives its management cannot and should not be left to the government alone; since everyone is a stakeholder each of us has a duty and responsibility towards it. It is when this realization does not dawn that land gets misused, ill-used and the source of many a corrupt practice.  In the words of late Cabinet Minister Shri Jagmohan: When a nation manages its land matters well it is indicated in its quality of good governance. But I would like to conclude with the words of Shri V. Achuthanandan, Ex-CM of Kerala who perhaps paid me the best compliment when he said: ‘Citizens will remember you from your making land issues a distinct part of citizens’ everyday parlance!’ 

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The annual ILDC brings us all together to discuss, share, cogitate, argue and recommend.  Let us not miss this opportunity to be a part of the change that can improve our lives in a meaningful way.