Making land titles tangible
collateral
By Afshan Subohi
The
digitisation of land records is expected to be completed in
two major provinces — Punjab and Sindh — during this
calendar year. This would make documentation transparent and
instantly accessible to the public.
And to quote experts, digitilisation is poised to radically
change the country’s economic matrix. Apart from enabling a
more effective public planning, a secure private land
ownership will generate tangible collateral to support a
flurry of market activity.
Contrary to general impression, Sindh was discovered to be
ahead of other provinces in terms of technology and
coverage.
Land records in the province
have already been scanned and about 95pc of it has been
punched into the computer in a centralised programme.
The collected data, a source
in the Sindh government confirmed, has been passed on to the
district administrations for physical verification.
The records have been made
accessible to the public from the service centre in
Hyderabad, and the facility will be extended to Karachi and
Sukkur by March.
Unlike other provinces, Sindh self-financed the extensive
exercise and developed dedicated apps for the purpose. The
records are said to be in Sindhi for better accessibility to
a majority of people in the province.
Punjab, which had started the exercise much earlier, is
following close and is also reported to have covered nearly
95pc of the task. In a press report, it declared that it
will complete the project by November.
The cost of project in the
biggest province is being shared by multilateral donors.
Experts see far-reaching sociological gains from the
exercise, as it would loosen the stranglehold of the
tapedar-patwari-mukhtiarkar-big landowner-power nexus that
is believed to have kept the rural land market hostage.
Transparent demarcation of land will curtail land disputes
and pave way for investment in corporate farming and boost
productivity in the labour-intensive rural economy, improve
livelihoods and reduce rural-urban migration.
The urban investor may
quickly reap the dividends of clear, verifiable land titles,
and the availability of bankable property documents will
enhance accessibility of bank credit.
Experts see far-reaching sociological gains from the
exercise, as it would loosen the stranglehold of the
tapedar-patwari-mukhtiarkar-big landowner-power nexus that
is believed to have kept the rural land market hostage.
The scope of real estate
investment tools in the capital market is expected to widen.
Analysts say the property transactions will be formalised,
pushing the share of real estate in GDP to 5pc per annum
over the next five years, from the current 0.5pc.
The gain in GDP growth, as
activity in the sector picks up pace, may increase as much
as 1-1.5pc per annum. In other emerging economies like
Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia, real estate makes up
10-15pc of GDP.
When contacted, all
stakeholders, landlords, agriculturists, real estate
developers, businessmen, bankers and officials spoke the
same language, with varied degrees of clarity on the
subject.
Many were not aware of the
progress made, but supported the idea that it would curtail
corruption, reduce land disputes, improve the coverage of
bank credit and modernise the economy.
Shaukat Tarin, a former finance minister, was pleasantly
surprised, particularly by the progress Sindh has made in
digitising its land records. “This will change the economic
landscape of Pakistan.
The implementation of the
Land Administration and Revenue Management Information
System (LARMIS) will initiate the process of change, with
huge economic dividends for businesses and citizens,” he
said when reached over telephone in Dubai.
In KP, the land record computerisation project was launched
last year, and a pilot project has digitised the records of
Mardan district. After an assessment of its outcome and
addressing the identified weaknesses, the province plans to
replicate it in other districts.
But owing to security and administrative challenges, it is
expected to be completed by the end of the PTI government’s
current tenure. A newspaper report said seven districts,
including Abbotabad, Banu and Peshawar, have been covered,
but this was not confirmed by the relevant department.
In Balochistan, however, the exercise is yet to be
initiated, despite the 2011 decision of the Supreme Court
directing all provinces to digitise their land records
Shahram Khan Tarkai, KP’s senior minister for health and IT,
sounded excited over the project of computerisation of land
records in his province. “There are challenges, but we are
committed to stem all sources of corruption and conflicts.
The availability of
transparent property documents will promote harmony and move
us towards our target of a corruption-free KP,” he told Dawn
from Peshawar.
Mukesh Kumar Chawala, Sindh’s IT minister, was not aware of
developments in the province in this regard.
He regretted that many ministries and departments bypass his
ministry regarding technology-related initiatives.
“I have been assured that a directive from the CM House will
soon mandate all ministries to route their IT projects
through this ministry,” he said.
Dr Muhammad Anjum Ali Buttar, DG Agriculture Extension and
Adaptive Research in Punjab, said “to universalise the
benefit of digitisation, awareness in the rural community is
crucial.
The availability of
information is great, but people need to know how to
leverage this information to promote their well-being”.
“The patwari, though a public servant, has acted as an
willing agent of big land owners. The computerisation of
land data will dent the power structure in rural Pakistan,
which has been tilted against the tillers of the land,” he
said.
Zulfiqar Ali Shah — the Sindh Board of Revenue officer who
headed the team that computerised land records in a record
time of two and a half years — was all excited.
“Imagination is the limit on what you can do with the pool
of information that is available. By June, we hope to make
this programme accessible from all districts in Sindh.
We are using the GIS
technology. Karachi is the first division where we have
completed a GPS-based survey,” he informed on telephone.
Chaudhry Muhammad Saeed, a former FPCCI president, was all
praise for the initiative, which expected would ease the
business environment.
Dr Abdul Majeed Nizamani, chairman of the Sindh Abadgar
Board, also supported the initiative, which, he felt, would
help modernise agriculture. He was not aware of the progress
made in the digitisation initiative, but wanted the
government to give representation to the farming community
in the policymaking forums.
Sayem Ali, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank, said
“the digitisation of land records will unlock huge
potential, which will increase the scope of the country’s
banking business”.
January 2015
Source: Dawn
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