Revenue target of Rs45b achieved through online land record system
Revenue target of Rs45b achieved through online land record system
Rawalpindi
No doubt, Punjab government has achieved land revenue target of Rs45 billion through online system, however public is still facing many difficulties in getting ‘fard’ i.e. land record due to hundreds of mistakes made in the old ‘Patwari’ system, Assistant Director Land Record (ADLR) Muhammad Jamshed told ‘The News’ here on Monday.
If ‘Patwaris’ submitted land record of all ‘Mozas’ in the province of Punjab including Rawalpindi, Punjab government could boost tax collection under the head to Rs100 billion annually. “Almost 90 per cent of the land record in Rawalpindi district has gone online and now the land-related information can be viewed by clicking on the revenue department’s website. A big public dream has been fulfilled, Jamshed said.
He said that we are facing public pressure while countless mistakes, frauds and embezzlements committed corrupt officials have become part of the record. The Revenue staff and ‘Qabza Mafia,’ have sold out majority of graveyards, public parks, school land and even streets. “We don’t have a magic wand or ‘Alladin’s Lamp to resolve all issues in days or months,” he said.
The Revenue staff, particularly ‘Patwari’ had been the villain in the piece. The insatiable greed of patwaris made them send out land or a plot three to four times. There are countless mistakes in land record as there are four to five and sometime eight to ten owners of a plot or land, he said. There are wrong names, wrong addresses in record. In such a situation how is it possible to issue ‘fard’, he said. “We are facing worst difficulties while dealing with ‘farming land’ in and around Rawalpindi as there is no record of it,” he claimed. We are dealing more than 200 ‘Mozas’ in Rawalpindi while Patwaris have never provided us full details of land record yet. I know the problems faced by public in getting computerised land record but we are totally helpless in such a situation,” he said. He said that many people have ‘registry’ of the same plot or land. We are trying to handle this situation but it will take time,” he said.
Keeping in view such problems in the urban areas Punjab government has developed new software that would ensure provision of ‘fard milkiyat’ and other relevant documents and details of a property within 30 minutes.
The new software would provide computerised record in the urban areas about each inch of land and would help address all land-related problems under one roof.
A backup system is also being established in Rawalpindi to ensure the protection of land record files. The VIP culture has been removed from all land management centres and the facility of free call centre (111-22-22-77) and cameras have also been installed for monitoring the centres. Separate counters have been formed for females and senior citizens.
The Assistant Commissioner (Rawalpindi) Tasleem Ali Khan who has been tasked with computerising land record of rural areas said that the new facility will not only eliminate the ‘patwari’ culture but will also protect the landowners from the land mafia. “Everything pertaining to land has been computerised, eliminating the role of patwari,” he said.
It is worth mentioning that this system has been financed by the World Bank (WB). Although part of the system has been implemented, still the problems of public persist and their difficulties have not been solved. Getting land ‘fard’ is a big dream for a poor person, which even in a genuine case will be given after greasing the palms of the persons concerned.
It is worth mentioning that all the personnel who computerised the system throughout Punjab including Rawalpindi were on contract appointment.
Talking to ‘The News’ people belonging to different walks of life have urged the Punjab government that if they make good policies, they should monitor them cautiously till their completion on time.
Article source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/242434-Revenue-target-of-Rs45b-achieved-through-online-land-record-system