Harassment at land offices

EDITORIAL

Speed up digitisation of land records

A recent hearing organised by the Anti-Corruption Commission on the harassment people faced when visiting land offices for tax and mutation issues brought out a plethora of complaints that ranged from non-cooperation to the issue of graft. We have written on this issue many times. The vast majority of service-seekers are common people as land is the most contentious of issues and they are given the runaround despite producing valid documents to prove ownership when it comes to mutation.

What has come to light from the hearing is that there are systemic problems related to the demand for bribes and other fraudulent activities. Service-seekers are given the runaround in many land offices on one pretext or another and those seeking redress may end up wasting months, if not years, in the hope of sorting out land-related issues. There is a general lack of professionalism in these offices and no real effort to improve efficiency.

Our land record system follows an antiquated system that British colonial rulers introduced—starting from surveys to property taxes. The various ministries that oversee the records system have little coordination. Because land deeds are still prepared by hand, there are bound to be mistakes. And this opens the door for corruption, which is where brokers come in to move papers faster.

The only way out of this quagmire is to speed up the digitisation of land records, which was initiated in 2011 and will allow authorities, landowners or buyers to have access to documents in an online database.

• Courtesy: The Daily Star/ Editorial/ May 17, 2018