Govt may link Aadhaar with property records; to expose benaami owners

Mumbai: Following closely on the heels of linking bank accounts and PAN with Aadhaar, the government is now planning to mandate the linking of Aadhaar with all land records under the Digital India Land Records Modernization Program (DILRMP).

According to a report in India Today, this is a step in the direction of exposing benami properties and making land records transparent.

The quoting of the 12-digit unique identification number will make it easier for authorities to identify owners. It will easily reveal if the owner is a benami owner or not. It will also ensure easier access to bank loan provisions and crop insurance for farmers.

The central government has asked all state governments and Union Territories to digitise "land records, mutation records, sale and purchase records from year 1950- of any immovable property (see section 2 of the Income Tax Act 1961 and subsequently amended) including land (agricultural and non agricultural), houses (independent or Society) etc by 14 August 2017".

The central government has further written to them saying that it is considering linking Aadhaar with the ownership of the above mentioned properties. “The properties which are not linked shall be considered for appropriate action under the Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Amended Act, 2016," it wrote.

The letter dated June 15, was addressed to Chief Secretaries of states and UTs, Additional Chief Secretaries of state and UTs, Lt Governor Delhi, NITI Aayog. A copy of it was also sent to the Prime Minister's Office for official record.

Digitisation of land records has already been completed in states like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra. The linking of land records with Aadhaar will soon follow in these states.

Land records will be linked to Aadhaar numbers of the Pattadars in Andhra Pradesh.