Minister for Revenue, Haj & Auqaf and Parliamentary Affairs, Abdul Rehman Veeri today visited Central Record Room at Gole Gujral to get the firsthand appraisal of keeping and maintenance of land record and to review the progress made under Union Government’s Digital India Land Record Modernization Programme (DILRMP).The Minister was accompanied by Financial Commissioner Revenue, Lokesh Jha, Commissioner Secretary Revenue, Shahid Inaytullah and Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Hemant Sharma.The Minister along with the officers visited the various halls situated in the Central Record Room where the old land record of entire division is kept. The Minister was briefed about the process of keeping and proper maintenance of record in the Central Record Room and efforts taken to further restore and saving the old historical record.It was informed that land record is being kept in the dark rooms on the racks. The record is kept in the specially designed bags to save them from dust and getting further destroyed.
Regional Director, Survey and Land Records Rifat Kohli apprised the Minister about the maintenance of record in the record room. She briefed him about various components of ongoing process of digitization of records including scanning of documents, scanning of Mussavis, quality check of documents and other related works.It was informed that till date, 11314268 documents and 17911 Mussavis have been scanned, 1161 current serving cadastral maps have been digitized and a total of 4604 Ground Control Points have been established in Jammu division under Phase –I of the DILRMP.Besides, the work of scanning of documents, Mussavis and quality check at district level is also going on simultaneously.It was further informed that out of total 3771 revenue villages in Jammu division, scanning of record of 2798 villages are in progress with total of 7192027 pages scanned in Central Record Room. Documents scanned include Jamabandi Parat Sarkar, Misal Haqiyat, Parat Sarkar, Khasra Paimaish, Khatooni and Mutation Parat Sarkar.
The Minister also visited the Labs where work of scanning of documents and Mussavis is being carried out. The concerned person gave the live demonstrations how the documents are being scanned with the help of modern gadgets and how the quality is being maintained by having quality check of every document scanned.The Minister was told that the record kept in the Central Record Room will be scanned within 2 to 3 months.Terming the land record as wealth of Revenue Department, the Minister said that every possible effort needs to be taken to preserve this old record which has historical importance too. He hoped that the digitization project would surely help the department in preserving it in online format.On the occasion, the Regional Director also raised various issues including provision of funds for regular maintenance of record room, construction of modern Record Room, shortage of manpower, requirement of furniture and other items in the CRR.The Minister asked the Regional Director to prepare the DPR for Modern Record Room on scientific lines and assured that financial support and adequate manpower will be provided to complete the project in given timeframe.
He also asked Financial Commissioner Revenue to provide Air Conditioner and required furniture so that the progress can be expedited.Later the Minister also visited Revenue Training Institute (RTI) and was briefed by the Principal RTI about the Training Programmes being provided to the revenue staff at the institute.Veeri interacted with the batch of Patwaris who are undergoing training at the institute and also enquired about the feedback of the institute.The Minister stressed on Capacity Building of employees and making the institute functional round the year with specialized training courses for people related to revenue business.“This institute should be made the premiere institution of the state where Revenue Staff should be provided with latest know how about the Revenue administration”, the Minister said.He asked the Principal RTI to submit a proposal to develop the institute on modern lines and to come up with an annual calendar of training programmes.Veeri assured that the sufficient funds would be provided to the Revenue Training Institute so that it can impart training to the staff on regular basis as it is very important for Revenue staff to be well versed with the latest know how of the subject.At RTI, the Minister also witnessed the ongoing work of scanning of field record and was apprised about the various components involved in the whole process of Modernization Project.