IN yet another landmark step aimed at bringing transparency and improving governance, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday launched digitalization of land record and cadastral mapping of the federal capital, saying it will ensure transparency in the land record and transaction.
In our view, this process of digitalization should have been completed much earlier and the federal capital should have served as a model for other regions. However, the negligence of previous regimes kept Islamabad in the back.
Anyway, the incumbent Chairman CDA really deserves applause to achieve the task which will go a long way in easing the life of the common man.
Whilst improving the service delivery and making the records less dispersed, the digitalization of land record will also reduce instances of land dispute litigation clogging the courts of law.
As also stated by the PM, the land digitalization will also help in curbing incidents of land grabbing.
This process must not stop here but should be replicated in the entire country. Already Punjab has done a great deal of work in this regard which needs to be further accelerated to achieve one hundred percent computerization of land record.
In other provinces, however, the process of digitalization is very slow. Despite demand of the peasants, no seriousness is being shown towards that end. The people of these provinces are fed up of the old and corrupt patwari system.
They really find it difficult to get hold of the Patwari or get any work done from him without greasing his palms. Time has come to free them from the corrupt clutches of Patwaris.
Hence, we will suggest the PM to personally monitor the digitalization of land record in other regions as well.
And more importantly, there is also need to review the recruitment process of revenue officers. Well educated people should be inducted on these seats through Public Service Commissions with better salary packages for them.
Doing this is important to end corruption in the revenue department and to ensure the benefits of land digitalization reach the common man.
