COMPUTERISATION OF LAND RECORDS

IN PAKISTAN

Research paper
written by
Muhammad Usman
Qazi & Presented by
S.M. Raza
(PAKISTAN)
Information Management in
Pakistan
 INITIATIVE
 The Government of Pakistan embarked
upon a number of initiatives around the
turn of the century to introduce
computerization in official business.
 The most significant initiative is the
establishment of National Database
Registration Authority (NADRA)
National Database Registration
Authority

 INITIATIVE

 NADRA has been mandated to gather

computerize all the demographic data
about citizens using ICT based solutions.
 NADRA has been successful in issuing
more than 50 Million computerized
national identity cards to Pakistani adults.
E-Government Directorate

 INITIATIVE
 With the view to automate the Government’s
internal communication process, Government of
Pakistan established an E-Government
Directorate in 2002.
 Most of the computerization initiatives in
Pakistan have been designed more for
recording, controlling and accounting for
information rather than sharing with people.
Information Management : The
Case of Land Records
 History
 The information systems in Pakistan’s
public sector are predominantly paper
based and elaborate filing system is in
place from British colonial system.
 Land enjoys a significant place among the
assets owned by the people in both urban
and rural context in Pakistan.
Information Management : The
Case of Land Records…. Cont…
 History
 There exist a complex and elaborate system of
land record management, basically founded by
Sher Shah Suri (1472-1545 AD) this system was
taken to scale by the following Mughals and
British colonial powers.
 At present all over Pakistan Board of Revenue
(BOR) is responsible to maintain land records
and in the field a junior officer called “Patwari /
Tape-Dar” is the sole custodian of data.
Information Management : The
Case of Land Records…. Cont…

 Issues
 Pakistan’s land record system is antiquated and
raises several concerns including Obsolete and
Opaque system of land revenue management.
 There have been disputes over rights and delays
in courts as lack of credible information
generates considerable delays in resolving
pending cases in courts.
Introduction of ICT in Land
Records Management
 Initiative
 Land Record Management Information System
Program (LRMISP), a project housed in BOR.
 A number of previous attempts had been made
since 1980’s to computerize the land records but
they all failed because of number of
technological and political reasons
 The donor agencies primarily World Bank found
it useful to reduce the formal and informal
transaction making the land assets more
efficiently integrated into the market.
Land Record Management
Information System Program
 Initiative
 The manually recorded data was entered into the
computers in close collaboration with the
“Patwaris” and they were trained in operating the
system as an integral part of project design.
 After data input and validation, the provincial
Government through legislation granted legal
status to the “fards” produced by the system and
then abolished the practice of issuance o manual
“fards” in the plot area.
Land Record Management
Information System Program
 Challenges and opportunities
 The computerization as a stand alone initiative is
not going to provide even the perception of
assets security.
 A procedural and systematic reform is necessary
to facilitate the computerization to take root.
 The computerization of records system involves
large financial costs in terms of procurement of
hardware, software, human resources as training
requirements
Land Record Management
Information System Program

 Challenges and opportunities

 With expansion of communication infrastructure,
increased awareness more people can access
computerized information.
 Advancement in the field of e-security is making
more robust options, available to ensure the
accountability and transparency of citizen’s
records management process.
Land Record Management
Information System Program
 Conclusion
 A political will behind the concept of empowering
people through informing them is a necessary
pre-condition for introduce ICT based systems.
 A gradual and complete transformation of the
procedures, protocols and environment of the
related public sector departments will be needed
in parallel to automation exercise to ensure the
social change does not lag too far behind the
technological change….