how much land the government owns

In 2005, there was a UN Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, and it submitted its final report in 2008. One of the four “pillars” mentioned in this report was about property rights.Property systems are a central facet[fa-sit(aspect,पहलू)] of state functionality.

Do we know how much land the government owns? Do we have a ready inventory, with computerised land records and updated surveys? Stated thus, the answer is in the negative. Part of the problem is that “government” is too vague[veyg(unclear,अस्पष्ठ)] a term. Since there are layers within government, the word can mean different things.

Let’s rephrase the question: Do we have such an inventory for all the land owned by the Union government? This means the defence ministry (MoD), railways, Central paramilitary forces, postal department, road transport ministry, sports authority, civil aviation ministry, ports and Central PSUs/ corporations. Here are some numbers, based on what we seem to know. The MoD is the largest landowner, with 17.57 lakh hectares. The railways follow with 4.40 lakh hectares, although only 43,000 hectares have been identified as land not required for operational purposes. Port trusts have 6,300 hectares, though one isn’t quite sure how old and reliable the data for the Mumbai and Kolkata Port Trusts are. (I have also seen a figure as high as 1.04 lakh hectares for ports.) The Airports Authority of India has 20,400 hectares. India Post has at least 1,900 vacant plots of prime real estate in metros such as Mumbai and Delhi. Central PSUs possess 95 lakh hectares of surplus land.
One isn’t always sure which number is being cited[sIt(mentioned,उल्लेख)].

to monetise its real estate and property, in India and abroad.
There’s a remarkable story about such a flat in Hong Kong, located in a prime area. Since this is based on hearsay[heer,sey(rumors,सुनी सुनाई)], I can’t vouch[vawch(guarantee,गारंटी)] for its authenticity, right down to the nitty-gritty[ni-tee'gri-tee(most important,महत्वपूर्ण पहलू)]. But it’s so bizarre[bi'zaa(unusual,अजीब,)] that it’s likely to be true. If there’s an inventory of Union government land, then land can be consolidated[kun'só-li,dey-tid(United,सुदृढ़)] and pooled, and transferred across departments. Consider what’s happened with the Hong Kong apartment now. Other organs of the Indian government will want it because of its prime location, but will be deterred[di'tur(prevent,निवारक)] because of the horrendous penalty.

we now have digitised, indexed and computerised land records for land owned by defence, with surveys, demarcation and verification, and a proper land audit.many people don’t know about this, since this success warrants greater dissemination[di,se-mu'ney-shun(spreading,फैलाव)].Having done it for the MoD, can’t the IDES be roped in to do this exercise for the whole Union government?

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