Punjab government will launch "Land Records Management and Information Systems Programme" during next fiscal year 2006-07 with the total cost of dollars 60 million to improve the land records service delivery of the province with the co-operation of the World Bank.
According to official sources, the proposed programme encompasses some main actions including setting the foundations of a modernised, more accessible and conclusive land records system by generating and strengthening the capacity of relevant entities to effectively manage and administer such a system; developing and deploying an accountability-prone land records system and all other pre-service delivery tasks; providing cost-effective land records services at all levels, including operations and maintenance of the LRMIS with the objective of managing, operating, and making accessible timely land-related information; and monitoring the quality and efficiency of the services provided, and assessing its impacts.
In Punjab, high transaction costs and difficulties associated with the land registration system continue to impose significant harm on land owners and prospective land owners, (particularly the poor, who have small holdings and less access to information or resources), making them vulnerable to the predatory behaviour of middlemen, and lowering the liquidity of family assets composed in whole or in part of land.
As the land is also a form of capital, current obstacles for documenting and enforcing land rights have the effect of lowering income from those assets through means such as rent, cultivation, sale, or access to other factors (e g credit).
Well-defined land rights are key for productive development and factor market functioning. In addition, clear land rights have far-reaching implications for social cohesion and governance, acting as an important catalyst in stabilising the communities, empowering individuals and reducing social exclusion.
According to an official study report, Pakistan has a land administration system inherited from the British, involving rules and regulations regarding sale, purchase and use of land resources mainly linked to the collection of land tax. The present land legislation - which is constituted mainly of the Land Revenue Act (1967) and the Registration Act (1908) - does not profess to provide for a state certificate of title to land under the aegis of a public authority. The records of rights and other documents based on the land records, by virtue of provisions in land laws are presumed to be accurate.
However, these entries only provide presumptive status of rights under land laws. Many court rulings have also maintained that entries in the land records are contestable, that the revenue records are not documents of title, and that it is permissible to challenge the entries for determining the title to land.
The ambiguity of agrarian law regarding records of land rights is particularly harmful to the poor, who cannot afford protracted land disputes. Numerous legal disputes are caused by contract enforcement of land rental contracts, e g over illegal possession of land, eviction of tenants, and recovery of rent.
Cases of land disputes are either heard in the Revenue Courts or Civil Courts. In general, small holders and tenants tend to prefer to use the Revenue Courts, because they are cheaper, more accessible, and less time-consuming. However, there is a widespread perception that decisions of Revenue Courts are often biased in favour of large and powerful landowners.
The institutional set-up of the land recording system in Punjab Province is also very opaque, involving many different agencies. There is no single agency maintaining updated land records for all of Punjab, and the co-ordination in record keeping functions being carried out by the various agencies is limited. Within this complicated institutional structure, the Board of Revenue is the most important agency for land administration.
Nevertheless, it is important to note that the BOR essentially is a body geared to collect land revenue for the Government. Over the years, the revenue collection role has become secondary to the BOR's role of being the custodian of the records of rights to land, but, inconsistently, the business processes of the organisation are still directed to its traditional role.
Official sources mentioned the objective of the Land Records Management and Information Systems Programme is to improve the land records service delivery of the Province of Punjab, contributing to long-lasting tenure security and more efficient functioning of land markets, and to establish a basis for fuller integration of information associated with rights in land.