UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Department of Land Resources to Launch Operational Guidelines for DILRMP 3.0; Set to Announce ₹565.50 Crore Digital Overhaul of Land Records
Q1. Which one of the following was constituted in 2008 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme by merging the pre-existing central schemes relating to land records and revenue administration?
- A. National Land Records Modernization Programme
- B. Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme
- C. Strengthening of Revenue Administration and Updating of Land Records
- D. Computerisation of Land Records
Q2. With effect from 1st April 2016, what change occurred in the funding character of India's national land records modernization programme?
- A. It became a Central Sector Scheme financed entirely by the Union Government
- B. It continued as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme financed on a 60:40 Union-State sharing pattern
- C. It became a Centrally Sponsored Scheme financed on a 90:10 pattern for North-Eastern and Himalayan States
- D. It became a State Sector Scheme financed by the States, with the Union providing only software support
Q3. Consider the following statements comparing the Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP) with its predecessor programme:
1. DILRMP is administered by the Department of Land Resources but is executed on the ground by the State and Union Territory Governments.
2. The Department of Land Resources is placed under the Ministry of Rural Development, whereas the predecessor National Land Records Modernization Programme was administered by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
3. Unlike the National Land Records Modernization Programme, which was a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, DILRMP has been a Central Sector Scheme with full central funding.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- DILRMP is administered by the Department of Land Resources but is executed on the ground by the State and Union Territory Governments.
- The Department of Land Resources is placed under the Ministry of Rural Development, whereas the predecessor National Land Records Modernization Programme was administered by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
- Unlike the National Land Records Modernization Programme, which was a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, DILRMP has been a Central Sector Scheme with full central funding.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q4. The Union Government Department that issues the operational guidelines for land records modernization and also administers the watershed development component of PMKSY functions under which one of the following Ministries?
- A. Ministry of Rural Development
- B. Ministry of Jal Shakti
- C. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare
- D. Ministry of Panchayati Raj
Q5. The 'Land Stack', recently rolled out by the Department of Land Resources with Chandigarh and Tamil Nadu as pilot locations, is best described as which one of the following?
- A. An integrated GIS-based digital platform bringing together land, ownership, registration and building data
- B. A multilingual compendium harmonising State-specific revenue terms across vernacular, Hindi, English and Roman scripts
- C. A drone and aerial-imagery based survey of urban habitations conducted through State revenue departments
- D. A fourteen-digit alpha-numeric identifier assigned to every land parcel in the country
Q6. Consider the following statements regarding the third phase of the Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme as against its immediately preceding phase:
1. Its operational guidelines cover a five-year cycle beginning 2026, whereas the preceding phase ran from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
2. It shifts emphasis from one-time creation of digital records towards dynamic updation, integration and real-time land governance databases.
3. In this phase the entire cost of survey and re-survey is borne by the State Governments, the Union's role being confined exclusively to prescribing technical standards.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- Its operational guidelines cover a five-year cycle beginning 2026, whereas the preceding phase ran from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
- It shifts emphasis from one-time creation of digital records towards dynamic updation, integration and real-time land governance databases.
- In this phase the entire cost of survey and re-survey is borne by the State Governments, the Union's role being confined exclusively to prescribing technical standards.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 1 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q7. The outlay of ₹565.50 crore announced for the digital overhaul of land records under DILRMP 3.0 is to be provided through which one of the following routes?
- A. A Central Sector Scheme of the Department of Land Resources funded wholly by the Union Government
- B. A Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Department of Land Resources shared 60:40 with the States
- C. An externally aided project of the Department of Land Resources financed by the Asian Development Bank
- D. Special assistance to States for capital investment routed as fifty-year interest-free loans
Q8. Consider the following programmes/allocations of the Department of Land Resources and the financial figures announced for them:
1. Extension of DILRMP for 2021-22 to 2025-26 — ₹875 crore
2. NAKSHA pilot programme for urban land records — ₹193.81 crore
3. Funds recommended to States/UTs achieving NAKSHA milestones under SASCI 2025-26 — ₹1,050 crore
4. Digital overhaul of land records under DILRMP 3.0 — ₹8,134 crore
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- Extension of DILRMP for 2021-22 to 2025-26 — ₹875 crore
- NAKSHA pilot programme for urban land records — ₹193.81 crore
- Funds recommended to States/UTs achieving NAKSHA milestones under SASCI 2025-26 — ₹1,050 crore
- Digital overhaul of land records under DILRMP 3.0 — ₹8,134 crore
- A. 1, 2 and 3
- B. 2 and 4
- C. 1, 3 and 4
- D. 2 and 3 only
Q9. Under the NAKSHA programme for creation of urban land records, which one of the following is the designated technical partner for conducting aerial surveys and supplying orthorectified imagery to States and Union Territories?
- A. Survey of India
- B. National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad
- C. National Informatics Centre, New Delhi
- D. National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation, Kolkata
Q10. As reported by the Department of Land Resources for 2025, in about how many districts are banks able to verify land mortgages online through integration with digitised land records?
- A. 106
- B. 406
- C. 706
- D. 1,006
Q11. With reference to the engagement explored in 2026 between the Department of Land Resources and the Asian Development Bank, which one of the following statements is correct?
- A. It is an exploratory engagement spanning land governance, land records modernization and watershed development
- B. It transfers the financing of land records modernization entirely to the Bank, which becomes its sole funder
- C. It designates the Bank as the exclusive technical agency for all aerial surveys of urban land records in India
- D. It supersedes the Department's engagement with the World Bank, which stands permanently ended on land reforms
Q12. The unique identity popularly called 'Bhu-Aadhaar', assigned to a land parcel under the land records modernization programme, is generated primarily from which one of the following?
- A. The geo-coordinates of the vertices of the parcel
- B. The Aadhaar number of the person recorded as its owner
- C. The khasra or survey number read with the village directory code
- D. The deed registration number allotted by the sub-registrar's office