*28th Feb, 2025* *News of the Day* *NAKSHA scheme which will update urban land records* *Introduction* Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched the Central government’s new initiative—‘NAtional geospatial Knowledge-based land Survey of urban HAbitations’ (NAKSHA)— on February 18 from Raisen in Madhya Pradesh. *What is NAKSHA?* NAKSHA is a city survey initiative under the existing Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP). It is spearheaded by the Department of Land Resources (DoLR), under the Ministry of Rural Development. *Pilot Basis* Under the new initiative, maps of towns and cities will be prepared. The programme has been launched as a pilot across 152 urban local bodies in 26 states. The cities selected meet two criteria: area less than 35 sq km, and population less than 2 lakhs. The pilot will be completed in a year. According to the DoLR officials, the Centre plans to scale up NAKSHA once the pilot is completed. *Why was the program needed?* The programme addresses the issue of updation of land records in urban areas. Several cities lack maps even today. Most urban areas – barring a few states like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa – have outdated or unstructured land records, causing inefficiencies in governance and taxation. *How will the survey be done?* The survey will be done through aerial photography using cameras. These cameras will be mounted on drones. The ground resolution of these cameras will be 5 cm, which is far better than any satellite. Relevance: GS Prelims & Mains Paper II; Governance Source: Indian Express *Download the Complete Daily News Juice Pdf* https://www.prepmate.in/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/News-Juice-28th-February-2025.pdf