Punjab Government is planning to launch a comprehensive land records management and information systems programme to protect and update the revenue record, and would introduce new electronic registration procedure for property in rural and the urban areas. According to official sources, this proposed programme would be implemented by the Board of Revenue and IT Department of Punjab province jointly, with the financial assistance of Asian Development Bank.
Presently, The computerisation of land records in the province is in progress to eliminate 'Patwari culture', while a special information technology department has been set up for this purpose, which is being facilitated by the Punjab government.
According to official sources, the proposed program project will establish an efficient, transparent, and accessible land rights recording system, in order to reduce litigation, bringing about long-lasting tenure security and promote an enabling investment climate.
This will lead to widespread support, adoption and use of reliable land registration procedures by farmers and other end-users in participating areas of the Punjab Province.
The project design would follow a two-fold approach (complementary and simultaneous) outlined by the client: First, the identification, assessment and removal of institutional, technical and regulatory constraints that could prevent the Punjab Government from obtaining full benefits from the computerisation of land records.
These would be based on lessons from the pilots. And second, through significant improvements to the land recording system, the establishment of a demand-oriented service concept.
THE TYPES OF ACTIVITIES FOR THE FIRST AREA INCLUDE, INTER ALIA:
(a) process and business reengineering (covering legal, policy and institutional reforms);
(b) assessment of needs for physical and technical infrastructure and for operational capacity of kiosks, hardware procurement and technical maintenance;
(c) long-term and systematic training;
(d) public awareness campaigns and communication strategy;
(e) issuance of Fards and verification of records with the public (including alternative dispute resolution mechanisms);
(f) quality assurance and technical assistance for the pilots; and
(g) assessment of social impact, monitoring and evaluation.
FOR THE SECOND AREA, ACTIVITIES ARE MORE IT ORIENTED AND THEY INCLUDE:
(i) acquiring licenses and/or source code of the AOS software,
(ii) data entry services (e g computerisation of manual records and services);
(iii) configuration, networking and connectivity;
(iv) IT training to District-level staff and kiosk operators;
(v) correction of data entry errors, technical support and software maintenance (throughout the project);
(vi) spatial data software development,
(vii) hardware and software maintenance; and
(viii) web-based service delivery.
According to official sources, there is a growing demand from the people of Punjab for reliable land records at the highest levels of society to which any new political proposal would need to respond.
The project is a politically popular one and efforts since the mid-90s made in this regard have shown the commitment of various political governments. Now that a good solution is available, the confidence in its ability and success will encourage the successive governments to continue with it.
Punjab Government is also committed to have a state of the art registration system, and the political support at the CM' s level has been clearly expressed. The Electronic Transactions Ordinance (ETO) 2002 already provides admissibility of computer generated revenue record. Board of Revenue (BoR) has also issued amendments for electronically based documentation.
With regards to other legal reforms, they will be linked to a highly participatory process reengineering, which has the full buy-in from the highest levels of the administration (CM and BoR).
According to sources, the main features/issues of the current land revenue system, recognised by the government, are the following:
1. OBSOLETE AND OPAQUE: Cumbersome processes and dependence on the 'Patwaris' coupled with vulnerable practices have resulted in a very weak and inefficient land records system where illegal annotations are possible, making room for exploitation and bribery. The land records system, of fiscal nature in principle, is presumptive and therefore, the person who pays land revenue or property tax is presumed to be the owner. Land records do not provide either conclusive proof of ownership nor are they linked to spatial data to perfectly identify the plot.
2. IRRESPONSIVE AND INACCESSIBLE REVENUE MACHINERY: A number of officials intervene in a single transaction and yet - or because of that, the backlog and delays are huge. Even though the 'Patwari' is supposed to visit villages rather frequently, physical and economic limitations restrict this considerably. The Patwar Office buildings are generally non-existent and the average time span between Patwari visits is two to three months. Additionally, by law, land records must travel with Patwaris and, therefore, no one has access to them for months.
3. CONTRIBUTES TO MORE DISPUTES OVER RIGHTS AND DELAYS IN COURTS: The inaccuracy and complex nature of the current system exacerbates land-related disputes. Lack of credible information generates considerable delays in resolving pending cases in courts. The Patwari is obligated to appear in Court in all land-related inquiries. In addition, only the Civil Court can cancel a registered deed, even if it is fraudulent.
4. INCREASES TENURE INSECURITY: Outdated records and lack of updated geographical data coupled with engineered Farads are some of the roots for such insecurity. The expansion of the Patwari's jurisdiction due to increasing subdivision of holdings and population growth makes the Revenue Record unmanageable. The records of rights in rural areas are to be updated (e g bringing changes into formality) only every four years.
They were originally established based on detailed field survey and included a map of each village showing the position and boundary of each parcel. This graphic information is intended to update every 25-35 years. This has not been the case but also, given the rates of transactions in some areas, this pace would certainly not be enough.
Therefore, introducing the spatial component into the modernisation process seems to be critical for having land records that actually reflect the reality on the ground, thus increasing tenure security.
5. MULTIPLE INSTITUTIONS AND DISPERSED RESPONSIBILITIES: At present, a number of different entities are responsible for recording and updating land rights in urban and rural settings. The system of recording land rights under the Land Revenue Act is different from the one under the Land Registration Act and therefore separate records are kept and different rules followed.
For instance, registration of a sub-division in rural areas is voluntary and can be done verbally whereas in urban properties, it is mandatory and should be done in writing at land registries. In addition, any search by a buyer in the Revenue Record and the Registrar's Office will not provide any clue to such a transaction having taken place.
6. WEAK INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY TO ADDRESS AND SOLVE THE PROBLEM: The Provincial Authorities at various levels (provincial, district, tehsil, and union council) lack the capacity to respond to the existing demand for secure and credible records of land rights. Additionally, the Patwari's job has become almost impossible due to existing volumes of information and records in his jurisdiction.
7. LACK OF PUBLIC AWARENESS: Basic steps and rules for land transactions are not known by the public, particularly procedures and fees. The public is not aware of who has to be approached for an appeal or who is responsible for what at different levels of the administrative machinery.
8. GOVERNMENT'S STRATEGY: Aware of this situation, the Punjab Government proposes to make land records accessible, reliable and efficient. In order to do so, it aims at going beyond mere computerisation towards a more holistic approach, which will include changing business processes wherever required and reducing or eliminating chances for legal challenges and malpractice. In rural areas, two key features of the government's strategy are (i) learning by doing before scaling up (the Punjab Land Records Program includes a number of pilot initiatives to be closely monitored before a full scale exercise); and (ii) decentralising registration to make access to land records easier and more hassle-free.
In urban areas, where the weaknesses in the registration of land rights are the result of fragmented responsibilities, little accountability and cumbersome processes - the Punjab Government is also embarked in a number of actions aimed at improving the existing structure of property documentation, automation of the deed system and simplification and standardisation of mortgage documents. In order to ensure consistency and appropriate project design, the Punjab Government agreed to incorporate the ongoing modernisation of the deed system (registry offices).
Comments
Comments are closed.