Is 'One Nation, One Registration' another blow to federalism?

After ‘One Nation, One Ration’, the Union government has now come up with ‘One Nation, One Registration’ — a mechanism that is claimed to ensure ease of living and doing business. Under the scheme, land records will be digitised across the country to implement a uniform registration process.  “One Nation, One Registration will be established for registration from anywhere to facilitate ease of living and doing business,” said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech on Tuesday.

According to the Department of Land Resources, which is under the Union Ministry of Rural Development, from 2016 till date, about 90% of land records have already been digitised across 24 States. This process has been carried out through the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP).

“The adoption or linkage of the National Generic Document Registration System (NGDRS) with the One Nation, One Registration software will be promoted as an option for uniform process for registration and ‘anywhere registration’ of deeds and documents,” said the FM.

Potential loss of revenue for States

This has created a lot of ripples in most of the States including Tamil Nadu, since the registration department is one of the major revenue generators for the State exchequer. After Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu is the biggest generator of revenue from stamp duty and registration fees. It is to be noted that the State also has the highest registration charge of 11%, of which 7% is the stamp duty and 4% is the registration fee.

Tamil Nadu’s real sector has been gradually bouncing back from the pandemic-induced weak markets. In September 2021 alone, the revenue from property registration touched a record ₹1,500 crore.

It is in this backdrop that Chief Minister MK Stalin has reacted to the announcement saying One Nation, One Registration represents interference by the Union government in the State’s rights. “This blatantly shows that the Union government is deliberate in wresting the State’s rights by whatever announcements it makes,” he said in a statement.

Union govt’s handling of State’s land

The State being vociferous against loss of land-related revenue is not new. In December 2021, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan (PTR) said the Union government should compensate the State when it decides to privatise Central public sector units (CPSUs), since the land for those units were originally given by the State government either free of cost or at a concessional rate.

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“During the privatisation of such organisations, the State should justly be compensated for the land either through payment of the land cost at the current market value or through an equivalent equity stake in the new entity,” he said at a pre-Budget meeting held in Delhi.

Interestingly, within a couple of days of PTR raising this issue, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) decided to monetise its assets in Chennai, selling some of the land parcels given by the State government in the past. Though most of the land parcels were given to the Telecom Ministry by the transfer of rights, the pattas (land deeds) of some are still with the State government. Those had been given to the Telecom Department for specific purposes, and hence cannot be sold.

It is claimed that when the BSNL planned to mop up about ₹1,250 crore by selling those plots, it had not taken the consent of the State government.

The Union government’s handling of State-owned land in an arbitrary manner triggered a lot of hue and cry when the Budget announcement of the One Nation, One Registration scheme was made.

Delegation of power

At a time when there is no mechanism to deal with double documentation for the same land, even within the State, it is impossible to deal with fake registration taking place in other parts of the country, said Jayaram Venkatesan, convenor of Arappor Iyakkam, an NGO that fights against fake registrations done over water bodies.  So, it is practically impossible to implement One Nation, One Registration, he added.

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“The State government has the survey number for each and every water body in the State. If it decides to block those survey numbers, so that no one can register the water body and convert it into plots, it can do so. But it has done nothing on that front. That is the reason why an important wetland in Chennai, the Pallikaranai marshland, has been encroached upon through fake registrations,” he said.

Division of labour and delegation of power should be the principles of a democracy, but today, the foundations of our democracy are shaken by the centralisation of all the powers, said economist V Sivaprakasam. It will lead to destruction, he added.

“Under the guise of cleaning up corruption in the registration department, the Union government is trying to snatch one of the revenue sources of the State,” said Sivaprakasam, who has studied land relations in the State for many years.

Need for ‘anywhere registration’ within State

Instead of introducing ‘anywhere registration’ across the country, it should be ‘anywhere registration’ within districts or within the State, S Sridharan, Chairman of Urban Development and Housing, CREDAI National, told The Federal.

“That could be practically possible. In the current system of registration process, it is very difficult to deal with fake registration cases. Now, when it comes to anywhere registration across the country, it is unimaginable how one can stop or prevent fraudulent registration. Instead, more offices of the registration department should be opened that will truly ease doing business,” he said.

A Panchayat Raj activist and a member of the Satta Panchayat Iyakkam, Siva Ilango, said One Nation, One Registration will make the State akin to a municipality. The scheme will become another ‘GST’, he added.

“For example, during the rural local body polls, Muttukkadu, one of the villages near Chennai, witnessed a candidate distributing a two-wheeler to each house in that panchayat. It is because panchayats like that are resourceful and able to generate a lot of revenue through registration. So, the panchayat presidents won’t depend on the State government for funds. When a panchayat itself generates high revenue through registration, then one can think about the importance of such a department being with the State government. If One Nation, One Registration is implemented, then the revenue source of the State will be severed and it needs to depend on the Centre for funds for even small issues, like how a town municipality depends on the State for funds now,” he said.