Mission Basundhara 3.0

Mission Basundhara 3.0

Why in News? 

Recently, Government of Assam distributed over 1.06 lakh land pattas to indigenous landless families and public institutions across Assam under Mission Basundhara 3.0, resolving long-pending ownership grievances and distribution of land titles through a transparent, technology-driven process.

What is Mission Basundhara 3.0?

• About: Mission Basundhara 3.0 is a flagship land governance reform initiative launched on 20 October 2024 by the Government of Assam to provide formal land ownership rights to indigenous communities and modernize land administration systems. 

• Implementing Authority: The programme is implemented by the Department of Revenue and Disaster Management through a mission-mode approach.

• Inauguration: The mission 3.0 was inaugurated at Deuri Beel in Dhemaji district. 

• Aims: Its primary aim is to grant legal land titles to indigenous populations. It is designed to ensure security of tenure, recognition of traditional land holdings and protection of socio-cultural identity of Scheduled Tribes, Tea Tribes and Gorkha communities. 

• • • It aims to achieve 100% digitization of land maps, integration of land maps with registration and records under the Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP). 
    • It focuses on settling Bhoodan/Gramdan lands, NC village land rights and AP to PP conversions. 

• Phases: It has been executed through earlier phases: Mission Basundhara 1.0 and 2.0.

• The first phase was launched on 2nd October 2021. It focused on record corrections — mutation (inheritance and deed), land reclassification, patta conversion, legacy data update and mobile number updates for landowners.

• • • The second phase was launched on 14th November 2022. It expanded to settlement of khas land, occupancy tenants, special cultivators and tribal hereditary land, and introduced online land revenue payment. 
    • Future phases like Mission Basundhara 4.0 and 5.0 are planned to address land reclassification further and grant rights to non-tribal residents of forest villages.

• Features: 

• Digital Land Governance: A key component includes digitization of land records, cadastral maps and mutation services, improving transparency and minimizing bureaucratic delays.

• Online Service Delivery: Citizens can now access land records, apply for mutation and track applications online without visiting revenue offices, enhancing administrative efficiency.

• Inclusion of NC Villages: Mission Basundhara 3.0 targets integration of Non-Cadastral (NC) villages into formal land databases by 2026.

• SVAMITVA Linkage: It complements the SVAMITVA scheme by surveying previously unrecorded rural habitations and bringing them under official land management systems.

• Policy Relaxations: The scheme has waived the earlier three-generation residency rule for indigenous groups to simplify eligibility for land ownership recognition.

• Financial Reform: Premium rates for land settlement in urban areas have been reduced to 3% of zonal valuation, offering economic relief to applicants. 

• Technology Integration: Mission Basundhara 3.0 employs drone surveys, GIS technology and high-accuracy mapping to ensure that all land parcels are correctly mapped . 

Necessity for Land Governance Reforms in Assam

• Obsolete Legal Frameworks: The primary driver for reform is the reliance on the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886. This colonial statute created a system of Eksonia (Annual) Pattas that offer no permanent ownership or transfer rights. Reforms are essential to convert these into Periodic Pattas, ensuring long-term tenure security for indigenous inhabitants. 
• High Volume of Unsettled Land Claims: Historical data indicates that a significant percentage of Assam’s rural population lives on Khas (Government) land or Ceiling Surplus land without legal titles. Without reforms like Mission Basundhara, these residents cannot access institutional credit, agricultural subsidies, or formal compensation during infrastructure projects. 
• Protection of Indigenous Identity: Land governance is critical for safeguarding the socio-political identity of indigenous communities. Reforms were needed to implement the three-generation residency criteria (1951 as the base year), preventing the alienation of land to illegal migrants and ensuring that “land remains with the sons of the soil.” 
• Eradication of Middleman Dominance: The traditional land system was heavily dependent on the Lat Mandal (village-level official), leading to rampant bureaucratic corruption and delays. Digital governance reforms are mandatory to shift services to a time-bound RTPS (Right to Public Services) model, eliminating physical interfaces and unauthorized fees. 
• Geographical and Flood-Induced Shifts: Assam’s unique topography, marked by frequent erosion and floods by the Brahmaputra, causes land parcels to physically disappear or shift. Modern reforms using GIS mapping and drone surveys are necessary to replace manual maps with dynamic digital records that reflect these environmental changes accurately. 
• Land Rights for Marginalized Tribes: Large sections of the Tea Tribes, SC, and ST communities have occupied “Basti” or garden lands for over a century without documentation. Systemic reform is required to bypass standard cadastral hurdles and provide these marginalized groups with formal land pattas to ensure social justice.  

Achievements of Assam’s Mission Basundhara

• Large-Scale Resolution of Land Grievances: Since its launch in 2021 in Assam, it has successfully resolved land-related issues of nearly 10 lakh families, addressing long-pending ownership disputes through a mission-mode approach and improving administrative efficiency in land governance. 
• Record Correction Drive: Under Basundhara 1.0, approximately 5.82 lakh families benefited through correction of land records, conversion of Annual Patta to Periodic Patta, land reclassification and mutation services, improving legal ownership documentation significantly. 
• Disposal of Massive Applications: Within just nine months, nearly 8 lakh applications related to land services were processed in Phase-1, demonstrating accelerated governance and reduced pendency in land record updation across districts.
• Indigenous Land Rights: The Basundhara 2.0 phase granted ownership rights to more than 2.29 lakh indigenous families, of which nearly 85% belonged to SC, ST and OBC communities, promoting inclusive land reforms. 
• Settlement of Hereditary Land: Land settlement under this phase covered khas land, hereditary tribal land and occupancy tenancy, settling nearly 3,02,545 bighas in Brahmaputra Valley and 1,214 bighas in Barak Valley.
• Digital Patta Distribution: Under Basundhara 3.0, more than 1,06,905 beneficiaries, including 44,700 from Dhemaji alone received digital land pattas in a single distribution programme, ensuring formal legal ownership for indigenous landless households. 
• Survey of Non-Cadastral Villages: Out of 903 un-surveyed villages, surveys have been completed in 769 NC villages, enabling land titles for over 30,000 families through integration with formal land records.
• Institutional Land Ownership Support: Land pattas have also been issued to 8,406 religious institutions, 13,637 educational institutions, and 2,213 cultural organisations, strengthening public infrastructure and community ownership rights.