Property rights in India paint a grim picture

India's property rights scenario, both physical and intellectual, remains grim. An archaic land record system, coupled with copyright piracy, continues to present new challenges, according to a recent index for 129 countries which account for 97 per cent of the global output. 

However, compared to its dismal rankings in the Human Development Index (HDI), the country fared somewhat better in the International Property Rights Index (IPRI). India ranked 52 in the 2011 index, compared to its 53rd rank (among 125 nations) a year ago. In the HDI index compiled by the United Nations Development Programme, India ranks 119th among 169 countries. 

At 5.6 points on a scale of 0-10, India's score in the index prepared by Washington-based Property Rights Alliance (a civil society group) shows an improvement over last year's score of 5.5. India's score also equals the mean score of 129 countries, with Sweden and Finland scoring the most at 8.5, and Venezuela recording the least at 3.4. 

The index uses three primary areas of property rights to create a composite score --- legal and political environment (LP), physical property rights and intellectual property rights. This year's index shows India's LP score fell for the third consecutive year (4.9 in 2009, 4.8 in 2010 and 4.7 in 2011). The report states says deterioration in rule of law and political stability are the primary factors that resulted in the decline. 

The fact that the Centre, as well as ruling regimes in various states, are comparatively more stable than before, may result in one wondering how political stability in India may have declined. Parth J Shah, president, Centre for Civil Society (partner of Property Rights Alliance in India for the index) explains this is because the index does not measure only the duration of the governments in office, but all disruptive movements like the Naxal and Telangana issues. He said there are incidents of human rights violation in Jammu and Kashmir and the country's northeast. 

Expectedly, the report says judicial independence is slightly on the rise in India. Without naming courts' interventions in the alleged scams in 2G spectrum allocation and the Commonwealth Games, Shah said there are instances of the judiciary challenging the executive in recent times. 

India scored 6.6 points in the physical property rights index, 2011, the same as in 2010. However, the country's system of maintaining records related to physical property is archaic, with the last major land survey being conducted during the British rule. 

"As far as property rights are concerned, the poor continue to fight the battle against forceful acquisition of their land by either the government or private parties. This remains a point of concern for India, even as we achieve high rates of growth every year," Shah said. 

India's score in the intellectual property rights index improved marginally to 5.5 points, compared with 5.3 a year ago. This was attributed to improvement in professional opinions. However, the country performed poorly in copyright piracy. The overall intellectual property rights score, at 5.7 points, stood below the scores in 2006 and 2007. 

The report said IPRI sought to assist underperforming countries to develop robust economies through an emphasis on sound property laws. Developing countries with stronger property rights protection enjoy higher GDP growth, which highlighted the effects property rights had on economies.