Land ownership is a multifaceted issue in rural India overall. There are written papers, but they also come with some issues like mistakes, missing papers, and forgery. These complicate the lives of farmers and villagers on how to actually determine who owns a plot of land. But there is one emerging technology known as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) that has the potential to turn this around and clarify ownership of land and make it more secure.
What are NFTs?
NFTs, or Non-Fungible Tokens, are digital tokens stored on a blockchain, an internet-based bookkeeping ledger that is virtually impossible to edit or hack. Unlike standard digital currency that can be transferred from one person to another freely, NFTs are unique, and each of them is different and cannot be cloned. Since they're one-of-a-kind, NFTs have value for registering ownership of rare things 바카라” including property.
The Problems of Rural Land Records
Rural Indian land records are normally kept as paper hard copies in government offices. Paper records are either incomplete or outdated. Paper is lost or destroyed, and there are also forged papers. Therefore, land ownership disputes frequently occur. Disputes could cause a delay in selling, buying, or mortgaging land as security for a loan.
Further, banks and financial institutions are not willing to lend or ensure land owners that cannot provide conclusive proof of ownership. This hinders economic potential for the majority of rural residents.
How NFTs Can Improve Land Ownership
NFTs can create a digital means of land ownership that is based on the blockchain. It is secure and transparent storage, and one can authenticate for anyone at any time. Some of the ways in which NFTs can help solve the rural land ownership issue in India include:
Secure and Immutable Records: Once an NFT of land ownership is made, it can't be deleted or changed. This avoids forgery opportunities and protects the rightful owners of the land.
Clear Clarity: As blockchain is an open book, the ownership may be easily verified and thus reduce disputes and misunderstandings.
Easy Transfers: The transfer or sale of land can be facilitated through transferring the NFT electronically, which can avoid paperwork and be faster.
Easy finance access: Holding verifiable evidence of ownership of the land as the NFT can make it simpler for farmers to obtain a loan or insure, as the banks can trust the records.
Records Keeping: Compared to paper records which get destroyed or lost, blockchain records are securely maintained on various computers and hence are more dependable in the long run.
Issues in Practicability of NFTs for Real Estate Ownership
Despite the many benefits that NFTs possess, their practicability for real estate ownership in rural India is thwarted by the following:
Limited Use of Internet and Technology: Rural areas still don't have proper internet connectivity or adequate personnel to use digital resources.
Legal and Regulatory Issues: The Indian law at present doesn't consider NFTs as title documents for properties.
Cost and Installation: NFTs creation and maintenance for land parcels involve technology investment and training officials at the ground level.
Trust and Awareness: Individuals need to know and believe in this new technology before it becomes a routine practice.
What Needs to Be Done?
There is a couple of things that need to be done to make NFTs an effective solution for land ownership in rural India:
Legal Changes: The government needs to amend laws to accept digital ownership registers on blockchains.
Pilot Programs: Governments or non-state actors may pilot NFT-based land records on a wide scale in certain villages to illustrate the way the system functions.
Education and Training: The villagers and officials need to be taught blockchain and NFTs to become confident and trustworthy.
Collaboration: The technology companies, local governments, and civic associations need to work together to construct trustworthy systems.
Conclusion
NFTs can catalyze a fantastic rural Indian land ownership improvement. By placing land titles on the blockchain, easy to verify and tamper-proof, NFTs can reduce conflict and facilitate landowners' access to financial services more easily. It is challenging, but planning, education, and legal encouragement can make it possible for technology to be fully realized by hundreds of millions of rural citizens. With innovation in the digital arena within the nation, NFTs can actually be an impetus to facilitate an open and a more equitable system of land ownership.
