Maha: Only 54 pc 7/12 receipts digitised so far

Only 54 per cent of the total 2.5 crore 7/12 receipts/extracts (a land title document) in Maharashtra have been digitised so far, a state government official said here today.
Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil in December had announced that digitisation of all 7/12 receipts will be completed by March 31 this year.
However, going by the current pace, it is highly unlikely that the state will be able to do so.
"There have been number of challenges including poor internet connectivity, lack of skilled manpower and non-availability of infrastructure to carry out the drive. There have been efforts to push the digitisation but other factors are affecting the progress of the project," said a official on the condition of anonymity.

The 7/12 receipt is a crucial piece of document for the establishment of ownership of a land. The receipt is extensively used by farmers for loan agreements, crop survey and availing government facilities.
Till some years ago, hand-written 7/12 receipts were prepared by village level revenue officer --Talathi.

Only Talathis are entrusted with the powers to make changes in these receipts and this resulted in several instances wherein officers misused their authority.
To avoid this, the state government had come up with an idea of digitisation of entire revenue documents.
The aim is also to avoid any tampering with documents.

The state government has made several provisions including setting up a network of optical fibre network, providing high-speed internet connection and asking Talathis to use laptops instead of pen and paper for issuing 7/12 receipts to needy people.
We may miss the deadline but we will achieve it for sure, he said.