Bhubaneswar, October 26: In a major push to transform land and property registration services in Odisha, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari on Monday chaired a high-level meeting with the Software Development Unit (SDU) of the National Informatics Centre (NIC), Pune, to chart the way forward for the implementation and modernisation of the National Generic Document Registration System (NGDRS).

The initiative aims to make registration services simpler, faster, more transparent, efficient and citizen-friendly, leveraging technology to deliver a more seamless experience for the people of Odisha.

The Minister emphasised the need to make the State’s land and property registration system more transparent, robust and technology-driven.

The discussion focused on streamlining the registration process through digital technology, improving the quality of services provided to citizens, enhancing the operational efficiency of registration offices and ensuring greater transparency and accountability in administrative procedures.

NGDRS is a national initiative undertaken by the Department of Land Resources (DoLR) under the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. The system provides a comprehensive digital platform that can be customised to meet the specific requirements, rules and regulations of individual States.

Through NGDRS, citizens can access a range of online services, including document preparation, property valuation, determination of stamp duty and registration fees, online payment of applicable charges, appointment scheduling and application status tracking.

The meeting also deliberated on integrating various functions of Sub-Registrar Offices into a unified digital framework. These include application scrutiny, identity verification and biometric authentication, digital approval of documents, record preservation and post-registration services. The use of digital dashboards was also discussed to enable senior officials to monitor registration progress, pending cases and office-wise performance more effectively.

The scope for further modernisation of the system was also discussed, including an advanced technology-driven software architecture, data analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Geographic Information System (GIS) and integration with land records. The implementation of these proposed features will be taken up in a phased manner, subject to the State’s requirements, policy decisions and technological preparedness.

The meeting also discussed initiating implementation in selected registration offices in the first phase, followed by its gradual expansion across the State.

ACS (R&DM) Department Dr. Arabinda Kumar Padhee, Inspector General of Registration (IGR) P. Anwesha Reddy, NIC Pune Deputy Director Rajesh Bhusari among other senior officials of the department were present in the meeting.