Diplomat Correspondent
Leh: The Chief Secretary of the Union Territory of Ladakh, Ashish Kundra, today chaired a detailed review meeting on 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 Shabir Hussain from the Revenue Department gave a comprehensive presentation on the functioning of the Ladakh Land Records Portal, explaining its paperless workflow, digital architecture, and integration with modern survey and mapping technologies.
He informed that surveys for village-level mapping 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 captured.
The presentation also covered the use of drone-based surveys, challenges faced during data collection, and the process of online services such as Jamabandi and Fard applications.
It was explained that LaLR is a secure, web-based, multi-tier application integrated with GIS, designed to support real-time decision-making. The portal serves citizens of Ladakh, revenue officials, and institutional stakeholders such as town planning authorities, registration offices, and courts.
Through the portal, users can access and analyse revenue records and related information including Records of Rights, Jamabandi, Girdawari, Mutation, and other ancillary land details.
While full digital coverage of the entire region is still underway, the portal has been developed as a single-window platform for accessing and preserving land records along with 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 on the base maps used for greater accuracy.
He stressed the importance of validating 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 examined the 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 other services such as income certificates and ST/SC certificates within the portal.
The Chief Secretary 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 emphasized the need to provide adequate hardware support, including laptops, to ensure effective implementation.
Highlighting the importance of public awareness and adoption, the Chief Secretary directed that a clear target be set to operationalize the online land system in Leh district by January 26.
He emphasized that once notified, the portal should be made mandatory for all land-related transactions and users, ensuring a complete shift towards a transparent and digital land administration system.
The meeting was attended by ACR Shabir Hussain, Revenue Department; Sunil Kaul, State Informatics Officer, NIC Ladakh; Punchok Paldan, Scientist-F, NIC Ladakh; Stanzin Donsal, Joint Director, Finance Department; other senior officials of the UT Administration; and representatives of the vendor agencies associated with the implementation of the project.DD
