Jamshedpur, March 17: The state revenue and land reform department has decided to computerise their ?raiyati? land records and East Singhbhum has been selected as the pilot district for the project.

The decision was taken at a meeting between the officials of the state revenue and land reforms department and the information technology (IT) department.

The information technology department will assist the East Singhbhum district administration in undertaking computerisation work of land records in the blocks.

While talking to The Telegraph, the commissioner and secretary of the IT department, R.S. Sharma, said the move was initiated to prevent disputes of land possession.

?This will be the first attempt by the department to document records of ?raiyati? land. East Singhbhum has been selected for the project as it is one of the highest revenue generating districts of the state,? he added.

Sharma said the issue of computerisation of the work procedure was also discussed at a meeting of national e-governance plan, held in New Delhi on March 14 and 15.

Sharma, who represented the state in the meeting, proposed the inclusion of land-record documentation under the e-governance plan.

As part of the plan, Rs 4,000 crore would be spent by the Centre and the World Bank. East Singhbhum deputy commissioner Sunil Kumar Burnwal said officers of all blocks have been ordered to ensure a land?s demarcation with each ?raiyati? landholder before the project starts.

Under the project, pass books would be provided to each land-holder in every block to record transactions relating to the purchase and sale of land. The records would be registered in passbooks after cross-checking with the record at the circle office.

?The database of the land records will be stored in a special software which can be accessed as and when required,? Burnwal added.

Efforts would also be made to return the original documents to their rightful owners.

The district has received 90,000 such passbooks from the land and revenue department.

Officials of revenue and land reforms department said, depending on the feasibility of the project, similar steps would be taken for computerisation of land records in other districts of the state.