Thiruvananthapuram: The Union government has directed the Kerala government to link all land deals to Aadhaar. The registration IG has handed over the letter from the center and the draft guidelines to the state tax secretary.

The state is expected to comply with the direction since it has already made Aadhaar compulsory for distributing all benefits including welfare pensions.

The letter from the center says that many other states have already made Aadhaar compulsory for land deals and Kerala should do the same.

Linking of Aadhaar to land records will help the government keep a tab on how much land a person owns across the country. Once Aadhaar is linked, the sub registrar can elicit information on anyone from his fingerprint.

The centralized data is also expected to help the income tax department and other agencies probing disproportionate income. The reform will also prevent impersonation.

The registration department is bound to pass on information on any deal above Rs 30 lakh to the income tax department every month. IT sleuths are also monitoring all deals with a registration value of more than Rs 5 lakh.

The center has also written to the land revenue commissioner with similar instructions on linking Aadhaar.

Though land registration records from 1988 have been computerized, it is not easy to figure out the entire land transactions a person has done in various sub registrar offices. The registration department had to write separately to each sub registrar to compile the land deals done by an actor accused of land grabs.

Currently, land registrations can be done after submitting any identity card supplied by central or state governments, provided that they feature the owner’s photo and address. PAN card is a must for any deal worth more than Rs 50 lakh. Some of the sub registrars do insist on the PAN card for any deal worth more than Rs 10 lakh.

A family of five members can own up to 15 acres of land, according to the land reforms act. However, plantations of up to 30 acres have been exempted from this provision and related attachment procedures. Rubber, coffee, tea and cardamom plantations are not bound by the 15 acre ceiling. But they are required to apply for an exemption certificate.

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