‘Computerisation of land records to end corruption’

[Salman]

‘Computerisation of land records to end corruption’

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Sunday that the project of the computerisation of land records was of great importance and that after its completion, not only would the people be facilitated in obtaining revenue records, but they would also get rid of the patwari culture and corruption.

He said this while presiding over a meeting which reviewed the progress on the project of the Land Record Management and Information System. Members Provincial Assembly Khawaja Salman Rafiq, Syed Zaeem Hussain Qadri, Muhammad Shafiq, Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan, Rao Kashif Rahim Khan, the chief secretary, the planning and development chairman, the Board of Revenue senior member, the home secretary, the law secretary and other officers attended the meeting. Project Director Irfan Elahi informed the meeting about the pace of progress of the project.

Addressing the meeting, the chief minister said that fraud and forgery with regard to registration of properties would be eliminated through the computerisation of revenue records and that the people would be facilitated in obtaining the record of ownership of their land. Expressing his satisfaction over the progress of the last three months on the land records’ project, the chief minister lauded the efforts of the steering committee in this regard. He said that five service centres would start functioning in various districts, including Lahore, next month, which was a welcoming step. He said that due to the efforts of steering committee, more than Rs1.5 billion had been saved in the operational expenses of this project. He claimed that the scope of the project of computerisation of land records would be extended in all districts of the province under a phased programme.

Earlier, the project director said that the hardware of four service centres had been completed and that the process of obtaining human resources for these centres had also been completed while the process of recruitment of staff for eleven more centres was underway. The meeting was told that the website of the Land Record Management and Information System had been launched, through which citizens could obtain information about their ownership.