Chief Secretary of the Union Territory of Ladakh, Ashish Kundra, on January 7 reviewed the recently launched Ladakh Land Records (LaLR) Portal, aimed at enhancing transparency, efficiency, and accessibility in land revenue administration across the UT.

During the meeting, Assistant Commissioner Revenue (ACR) Shabir Hussain from the Revenue Department gave a detailed presentation on the functioning of the LaLR Portal, highlighting its paperless workflow, digital architecture, and integration with modern survey and mapping technologies. He informed that village-level mapping surveys have been completed in 40 villages of Leh district so far, while surveys in the remaining villages of Leh and Kargil districts are yet to be undertaken.

The presentation also covered the use of drone-based surveys, challenges faced during data collection, and the process of delivering online services such as Jamabandi and Fard applications.

Officials explained that LaLR is a secure, web-based, multi-tier application integrated with GIS to support real-time decision-making. The portal caters to citizens, revenue officials, and institutional stakeholders, including town planning authorities, registration offices, and courts.

Through the portal, users can access and analyse revenue records and related information such as Records of Rights, Jamabandi, Girdawari, Mutation, and other ancillary land details. Although complete digital coverage of the region is still in progress, the portal has been developed as a single-window platform for accessing and preserving land records, including maps, survey and settlement data, and immovable property registration details, with the objective of providing timely and reliable land revenue information.

The Chief Secretary reviewed the technical and functional aspects of the portal in detail and sought clarifications regarding the base maps used to ensure accuracy. He emphasized the need to validate digitally available revenue records before making them publicly searchable and enquired about the number of users who have accessed the portal so far.

He also reviewed authentication mechanisms for accessing land documents, suggesting that basic land records may be made available through auto-generated downloads, while transactions related to sale, partition, division, bank loans, and transfers should remain subject to proper authorization and verification.

Further discussions focused on ensuring the authenticity of physical land details, verification mechanisms for ownership and bifurcation, and the integration of additional services such as income certificates and ST/SC certificates within the portal.

The Chief Secretary also reviewed user login credentials, training modules, and testing procedures for revenue staff, particularly Patwaris. He directed that structured competency tests be conducted to assess actual usage and understanding of the portal and stressed the need to provide adequate hardware support, including laptops, for effective implementation.

Highlighting the importance of public awareness and adoption, he directed that a clear target be set to operationalize the online land system in Leh district by January 26. He further emphasized that once notified, the portal should be made mandatory for all land-related transactions to ensure a complete transition to a transparent and digital land administration system.

The meeting was attended by ACR Shabir Hussain, Sunil Kaul (State Informatics Officer, NIC Ladakh), Punchok Paldan (Scientist-F, NIC Ladakh), Stanzin Donsal (Joint Director, Finance Department), senior officials of the UT Administration, and representatives of vendor agencies associated with the project implementation.

Photo Caption: Chief Secretary of the Union Territory of Ladakh, Ashish Kundra reviewing the recently launched Ladakh Land Records (LaLR) Portal with concerned officials.