Maharashtra to bring law ensuring transparency in property deals: Bawankule

Thane, Maharashtra will soon introduce a "land titling" law to ensure complete transparency in property transactions in line with global standards, state Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule has said.Maharashtra to bring law ensuring transparency in property deals: BawankuleAddressing a programme in Thane on Thursday, Bawankule said that Maharashtra would become the first state in the country to enact such legislation.The decision in this regard will be finalised during the upcoming winter session of the state legislature in Nagpur this December, he said.Under the proposed framework, every property holder will be issued a government-backed digital property card. Replacing the existing practice of tracking all past transfer records, the new card will contain complete details of the current owner, legal heirs, land revenue records, and property specifics."This government-guaranteed card will serve as a reliable, globally accepted document similar to debit and credit cards, usable both in India and abroad," the minister said.The state will also enforce the rule of "measurement first, registration later" to ensure no property transaction takes place without prior land survey, he said. "Furthermore, flat owners in urban cooperative housing societies will be issued independent 'Vertical Property Cards'," he said.Officials said the proposal could not be tabled in the monsoon session of the state legislature as they had to fine-tune it. The proposed law aims to provide conclusive proof of property ownership, reducing disputes and fraud while making property transactions more transparent, efficient and in line with global standards, they said.Legislators Sanjay Kelkar, Niranjan Davkhare, Kisan Kathore, Kumar Ailani, Jitendra Awhad, former MLC Vikrant Patil and corporator and Thane District Co-operative Housing Federation chairman Sitaram Rane were present at the event.During the programme, Rane raised a few demands, including simplifying the entry of names under 'other rights' on property cards and '7/12 extracts' for housing societies. Stopping the practice of revenue officials summoning land owners for "unnecessary" hearings.Bawankule assured positive action regarding the demands.This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.