CONTEXT :  

• By 2031, India’s urban population is projected to exceed 600 million.
• Urban expansion increases the demand for accurate, accessible, and verifiable land records.
• Traditional land records are often outdated, leading to disputes, inefficiencies, and delays in development.
• The Department of Land Resources (DoLR) under the Ministry of Rural Development launched the NAKSHA programme to address these issues using geospatial technologies.

CONCEPT: WHAT IS NAKSHA?

• NAKSHA stands for NAtional geospatial Knowledge-based land Survey of urban HAbitations.
• It’s a technology-driven pilot initiative aimed at modernizing urban land surveys across India.
• Implemented by DoLR in collaboration with:
  • Survey of India
  • NICSI, MPSeDC
  • Five Centres of Excellence (CoEs)
• Currently active in 157 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) across 27 States and 3 Union Territories.
• Focuses on:
  • GNSS & ETS-based high-accuracy surveys
  • Web-GIS applications
  • Land parcel mapping
  • Legal and administrative frameworks

CURRENT: PHASE 2 CAPACITY BUILDING FROM 2ND JUNE 2025

• Phase 1 (May 2025): Trained 160 master trainers from participating states/UTs.
• Phase 2 begins 2nd June 2025, virtually inaugurated by Shri Manoj Joshi, Secretary, DoLR.
• Trains 304 officers from 157 ULBs at five top Centres of Excellence:
  •  LBSNAA, Mussoorie (Uttarakhand)
  • YASHADA, Pune (Maharashtra)
  • NER Centre, Guwahati (Assam)
  •  MGSIPA, Chandigarh (Punjab)
  •  ATI, Mysuru (Karnataka)
• Training Duration: 1 week
• Training Focus: Hands-on learning in geospatial surveying, map digitization, and integration with legal frameworks.
• Goal: Build technical capacity among ULB-level and district officers for on-ground implementation.