Frequently Asked Questions

Last Updated On: 25/02/2014
                    
Who is the Sponsor of HimBhoomi Computerisation of Land Records? 
             
Who implemented HimBhoomi Project? 
              
Who has designed the HimBhoomi software?   
                     
What is the technology used in HimBhoomi software?   
             
What is the Hardware Which has been made available in the Tehsils?

What is the online system?     
           
What is the back up system being maintained in Tehsils?       
         
What is the strategy of data entry adopted in Himachal Pradesh?   
            
Which documents are computerized in Himachal Pradesh?   
            
How was the land records administration requirement captured for design of HimBhoomi software?

What were the challenges faced in the computerisation? 
              
How was the data entry done for such a huge number of land records covering over 21,000 villages?                                       
Are any guidelines issued for implementation of project?   
             
What is Political Commitment in HimBhoomi Project? 
             
Was there any Opposition from the Revenue Officials and what is the response now? 
              
Did any problem is faced after manual records were banned?

What has been the response of the farmers? 
              
What are the general problems being faced in the implementation?
               

Who is the Sponsor of HimBhoomi Computerisation of Land Records?                              

HimBhoomi  has been undertaken by Himachal Pradesh State Government under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Computerisation of Land  Records. This scheme is sponsored by Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India.                                

Who implemented HimBhoomi Project?                

The HimBhoomi Computerisation of Land Records in all 110 Tehsils of HP under HimBhoomi has been implemented by Himachal Revenue Department. Deputy Commissioners of respective districts have been implementing HimBhoomi in the field.

The National Informatics Centre, Himachal Pradesh through its district officers is helping in the implementing of HimBhoomi project.                         

The National Task Force chaired by Shri M.G.K.Menon had been set up by the Prime Minister. There was a working group on Information  Technology for masses constituted by this task force. What where the recommendations of that task force as far as it relates to land records computerisation.                    

It is true that such a working group had been set up. The working group came up with a deadline of December 2005 for Computerisation of Land Records in all the states. This perhaps was done keeping in mind the complexity of the project. However, in Himachal Pradesh it is expected that all the Tehsils & sub-Tehsils will be covered by Dec 2006 wherein the Tehsil centre will be set-up and people will start getting the copy of RoR/Nakal and also mutations will start taking place as and when happen basis.  

In addition, the Tehsil centres will be also undertaking HimRis (Himachal Registration Information System) Project wherein the registration of around 30 different types of deeds would also be computerized.                               

The ePraman(Certificate Issuance System) for issue of 15 different certificates would be implemented in all the Tehsils to facilitate the staff to prepare the certificate in time and neatly on one hand and benefit the people to get the certificate in very less time once they submit the application and relevant papers. However, in the next phase the field verification process too would also be computerized so that people need not to chase the Patwari for the documents. In addition, the certificates for which information is obtained from Land records, same will not be called from the Patwari rather the certificates would be issued from the database.


Who  has designed the HimBhoomi software? 

The HimBhoomi software has been fully designed & developed in house by National Informatics Centre (NIC) Himachal Pradesh State Centre, Ministry of Communication & Information Technology Government of India. 


What  is the technology used in HimBhoomi software? 

Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 at front-end and SQL Server 2000 at back-end beside C-DAC GIST-SDK for local language(Hindi) support have been used for development of HimBhoomi software.  The bio-metric authentification would also be introduced in near future.       

 

What  is the Hardware Which has been made available in the Tehsils?  

The Tehsil centres are equipped with a latest high end server and three to four PC Clients depending upon the size of the Tehsil. 

              

What is the online system? 

In Himachal Pradesh, as against the attestation process of mutation in the Tehsil, the attestation of mutation takes place in the field that is Patwar circle. So at any point of time, the HimBhoomi databases are current upto the point of last field attestation. Instructions have been issued that whenever the mutation takes place in the field, same would be incorporated in HimBhoomi at Tehsil centre within a week.

Although the practice of preparing fresh Jamabandi(RoR) after every five years is still continuing even after computerisation but HimBhoomi offers the facility to generate the next Jamabandi any point of time meaning thereby that all the columns are up-to-date with respect to number of mutations taken place in the Jamabandi.

In Himachal Pradesh manual records have been banned for any use in the Tehsils where computerisation have started and only computerized copies are valid for all purposes. However, the people of HP are free to obtain the Nakal/RoR copy from Tehsil centre or Patwari concerned depending upon the urgency, nearness and interest of the owner.                    

What is the back up system being maintained in Tehsils?                               

DAT drives have been provided in the Tehsils and a very simple interface for taking backups is the part of the software. CDs are also being used for taking-up backups besides the automatic scheduling of database backup is also ensured.

In future with the setting-up of HimSwan(State Wide Area Network), the data centres will be set-up at Tehsils and districts which will host the data of respective Tehsils and sub-divisions.       
         

What is the strategy of data entry adopted in Himachal Pradesh? 

  1.   The process starts by taking-up the data entry from Misal-Hakiyat (Jamabandi prepared during Settlement Operations) or the last Jamabandi written for the village. The data entry is started by first entering the Shajra-Nasb. That is, each individual appearing in the Jamabandi is indexed and assigned a unique Code, and then the related Jamabandi details are entered against this Index.

   2.  After the initial data entry is completed, a printout of the existing Jamabandi, including its Shajra Nasb and other reports, is generated and given to the concerned Patwari for cross checking and reporting errors, if any. The Patwari and then the Kanungo concerned ensure that the existing Jamabandi is generated 100% correct, by getting the reported data entry errors corrected. They issue then a certificate also to this effect.

   3.  Once the existing Jamabandi is generated 100% correct, data entry from the Mutation Register for the village is started. After the Mutation Data entry is completed, printout of the Intermediate Next Jamabandi & Shajra Nasb is generated and given to the concerned Patwari for checking and reporting error, if any. After correcting the reported errors, if any, Final Next Jamabandi & Shajra-Nasb along with all the related reports is printed and given to the concerned Patwari for record.

   4.  Upon field verification of Jamabandi, the data is ported to Tehsil for online entry of mutations and issue of copy/Nakal of Record of Rights (ROR).

The whole process if goes smoothly then reduces the job of generating an average Jamabandi and associated reports to a period of less than 7 days at the maximum which is very short when compared to the time of 3-4 months devoted in the preparation of the record manually.   
             

Which documents are computerized in Himachal Pradesh? 

Genealogical Table(Shajra Nasb), Records of Rights(Jamabandi), Intkal(Mutation Register), Khasra Girdawari(Harvest Inspection) Registers/documents have been computerized beside the host of other Nakshas(Reports) built into it.   

            

How was the land records administration requirement captured for design of HimBhoomi software? 

The land records system/administration followed in Himachal Pradesh is very complicated but very systematic with many convoluted linkages among various documents. The prime consideration of undertaking the computerisation was in line with the Central Government objective but this was taken slightly differently wherein a comprehensive Management Information System was proposed to be designed so that the databases generated out of the computerisation may be of use not only to the department of revenue but host of other departments including Judiciary, Election Commission, Census Department etc.

However, to design a such a complicated system which not only various across the districts in Himachal Pradesh but across different Tehsils within the same district was a main challenge. Also it was observed that though the manuals prescribe a standardized way of writing the records but these were seldom adhere with the result that if there are 3000 Patwaries in the state then there were 3001 different ways of writing and maintaining the land records.  However, HimBhoomi software has been in position not only to cover the variations across the regions but also has been able to enforce the standardization in a manner that is it is acceptable to all the concerned.

To capture the requirements of the system, the Software Development Group from NIC Himachal Pradesh State Centre prepared Software Requirement Specifications after through study and same were discussed and approved by a Core Group headed by Financial Commissioner Revenue. The software development was undertaken in a piecemeal manner where in the first phase the Shajra Nasb and Jamabandi was undertaken and after these two got stabilized the development of software for mutation updation was done and put to use.

What were the challenges faced in the computerisation?  

         Diversity In Land Record

Though land records administration in Himachal Pradesh is one of the best in the country but due to local conditions prevailing in the state as well due to various reasons the record writing and record keeping is diverse. Also no revenue officer was in knowledge of such diversities completely in the state. In the face of this fact, the software design was a very a difficult task. However, efforts were made to study the system and then design it in a manner robust enough so that if any diversity is not covered in the present version, it should be capable of being captured in the future.

Difficult Terminology

        The land records system prevalent in Himachal Pradesh is the one developed by Todar Mal, one of the learned scholars in the court of Great Mughal Emperor Akbar. The usage of Urdu and Persian dialect in the land records was a great challenge for the software developer as he was the one who had to devise a system based on modern technology for the oldest system in vogue.

         Problems of Preparing Computerized Genealogical Table

Though the Shajra Nasb(Genealogical Table) is prepared in North India including the states of Haryana and Punjab but the regular and in time updations take place in Himachal Pradesh only.

This document maintains the record of different families in the village. The data of last 10 generations is maintained in the document with lots of other information in the form of symbols. For instance the wife is represented with a betel sign whereas the daughter is shown with a triangle. The details of kids are maintained in the order of age. Also various characteristics of an individual such as whether he/she is Nambardar or owner since Settlement or handicapped are also maintained. Also the caste and sub-caste of each individual is maintained in the documents which are used by revenue officials for providing caste certificate.

To incorporate this information in the computerized system was also a major task but has been completed successfully in the HimBhoomi software.

Problem in Khatoni Codification & Non-Uniform Approach in Khatoni Writing.

This was another trouble area as due to local practices the writing of khatoni not only differed from one Tehsil to another Tehsil but from one village to another village. However, after a through study by the development team, a multi-level codification has been incorporated in the software which facilitate not only the entry of khatoni details but in a uniform and standardized manner.

Problem in Mutation

In the HimBhoomi software a mutation process is provided which allow the changes in such a manner that it does away the textual entry as well as gets assimilated into the databases. Also various calculations related to shares, Khasra area division are ensured by the software.

The mutation process and its updation in the record is a very complicated process in Himachal Pradesh. The provision of a mechanism wherein the mutation entry is incorporated into the software was real big challenge. However, after carefully studying and analyzing around 700 mutations details, a mechanism was involved which is generic enough to handle any type of mutation. For example, mutation type ’sale’ informs the type of mutation but it does not inform anything about the nature of transaction. The sale may be of single piece of land or share or complete account. In order to capture such nature of the transaction, a generic codification (known as sub-mutation types) has been devised by the software developers which are able to capture all the details related to the mutations.                                             

Are any guidelines issued for implementation of project? 

The Government of Himachal Pradesh in close coordination with NIC Himachal Pradesh State Centre have prepared a Management Manual for revenue officer which dovetail each aspect related to computerisation, roles and duties of each associated with the computerisation, performance reporting etc.

Beside, a Tehsil operation Manual too has been prepared which informs the operations of Tehsil centre, process of issuance of Nakal, handling of cash available in the form of service charges, reporting mechanism etc. 


How  was the data entry done for such a huge number of land records covering over 21,000 villages?      

The Patwari from the concerned Patwar circle is called to the district HQ and he sits along with the Data Entry operators and speaks out the data and also cross checks the same on the screen.

However, the problems of non-reporting by the Patwari due to certain reasons like field inspection of senior officer, roads closers due to rain or snow fall and other contingencies were also tackled. At each District HQ a Naib-Tehsildar (Land Records Computerisation) was designated /appointed who monitored the deployment and redeployment of the Patwaries and data entry operators.

Once the data is entered, the first print out is given for detailed checking. Once the errors are reported, the same are rectified then a print out of selected pages where errors were rectified is given followed by the process of rechecking. This process goes on till the Patwari is not satisfied and issue a certificate mentioning that the computerized as well the hand written Jamabandi.

The data entry operators were thoroughly trained by Software Development Group, District Informatics Officer, District Informatics Associate beside various User Manuals prepared as per ISO standard are made available for better understanding.                    


What is Political Commitment in HimBhoomi Project? 

The commitment from the political bases can be judged by the fact that most of the Tehsils centres are inaugurated by honorable Chief Minister, Revenue Minister, Agriculture Minister, and Member Parliament/Member Legislative Assembly beside various senior offices. In their speeches the CM is informing the importance of computerization.     

           

Was  there any Opposition from the Revenue Officials and what is the  response now? 

Though the officials were bit apprehensive about the program but they were made knowledgeable about the benefits out of computerisation. They are now rather themselves more excited about this Programme than anyone else. The time in the preparation in the record after the mutation incorporation which used to take 3-4 months with heavy involvement has now come down to 7 days thereby making available much time available at their disposal for carrying out other works for which they were under pressure always in pre-computerisation scenario.   


Did any problem is faced after manual records were banned?

No, as the design was robust and did not falter, we did not face any major problems. Further, day to day support to take care of teething problems ensured quick and easy transition from the manual system to the computerized system.


What has been the response of the farmers?  

The response of the farmers has been overwhelming. The farmers/owners are taking Nakals from the Tehsil centre immediately for which they had to make visit to Patwar Circle three four times due to Patwari pre-occupation with other works. Many cases have come to the notice where earlier the compensations were not released due non-availability of record. Now this has become a thing of past.


What are the general problems being faced in the implementation?

Non-standardization of land types codes is posing a problem to club the land type wise data. If a Patwari writes land type as Gair-Mumkin School then other writes Gair-Mumkin Vidhalaya and similar is the case with other land types.

The non-uniform classification of caste & sub-caste is another problem which is being faced in the implementation of land records computerisation. The Brahmin(Kholi) and Kholi(Brahmin) are being treated as separate caste though these are same.

The software development for a system which involves the local language is always full of problems and challenges and HimBhoomi is no exception to these all.