Elucidate the reasons that led to failure of National Land Records Management / Modernization Programme. In the light of its failures, examine the prospects of Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP), which is being pushed by current government.

Government of India launched the National Land Records Modernization Programme (NLRMP) was in 2008 by merging two erstwhile programmes of Computerization of Land Records (CLR) & Strengthening of Revenue Administration and Updating of Land Records (SRA & ULR).
The scheme was launched with several noble aims such as providing security of property rights with conclusive titles and title guarantee; minimizes land dispute; efficient functioning of the economic operations based on land, and overall efficiency of the economy.
However, this programme suffered due to many implementation issues. Firstly, high cost of setting up the framework hindered its implementation. Secondly, it was very difficult to ensure that a person actually owned the land before making any changes in the land records. Thus, ascertaining conclusive ownership was an issue. Thirdly, the programme could not handle the fraudulent sales and acquisition of land. Fourthly, since Land is a state subject, many states were reluctant to disturb the status quo. Further, there was lack of coordination among the multiple agencies that were responsible for the implementation.
The proposed DILRMP aims to digitize the maps, integrate the textual and spatial data, carry out the surveys to update the records by using latest available techniques including GIS mapping. Further, more emphasis is being given to verification and establishing conclusive ownership including use of Biometric identification using Aadhaar. Government may also explore possibility of Blockchain technology in land records modernization.

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