Digitally updated and transparent land records facilitate optimisation of land resources and sharing of information with various agencies for assisting in policy making and planning, Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said. Virtually inaugurating an international workshop on the use of modern technologies in survey or resurvey of urban land records, Chouhan said the government is boosting digitisation and maintenance of land records under the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP). Highlighting the importance of quality land records, Chouhan said digitally updated and transparent land records facilitate optimisation of the land resources and sharing of information with various agencies for assisting in policy making and planning. For a robust property record and tax administration, seamless access to land records is crucial to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of public service delivery through various schemes of the Centre and the states, he said. The minister also emphasised the need for close coordination between the Department of Land Resources under the Ministry of Rural Development and the state governments. Chouhan also expressed happiness over a pilot programme called the National Geo-Spatial Knowledge Based Land Survey of Urban Habitations (NAKSHA) under the Department of Land Resources with a view to create land records in urban areas. The pilot project will be initiated in more than 100 cities/towns in all the states/UTs and is expected to be completed within a year. This will be followed by a full-fledged survey which would cover all the urban areas in the country within a period of five years. Stating that aerial photography with 3D imagery is a powerful tool for urban planning, Chouhan said, Considering the rainfall and flood situation at the local level, it is very important to develop better drainage and flood management systems. Aerial photography with accurate GPS coordinates will help accelerate the speed of land survey, which will ultimately be useful in property tax assessment, better transport system, planning for drainage and flood management, and preparation of master plans for the urban areas, the minister said, adding that the best practices from across the world in these matters should be shared in the workshop.