Punjab govt to launch a monitoring system to improve service delivery at land record centers

Just after successfully launching online issuance of record of ownership earlier this year in March, the Punjab Land Records Authority (PLRA) is now planning to introduce a system monitoring system for making improvement in service delivery at the land record centers in Punjab province.

The latest development by PLRA is made after the directives of Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar, who is applying efforts to maintain online land records in order to set aside ‘patwari culture’ in the province. The concerned authorities are now working to improve service delivery by developing an online monitoring system for all land record centers across Punjab.

The authorities have assigned a task to several monitoring teams at the district level to collect data regarding the workings of these land record centers. Afterward, steps will be taken to improve the working mechanism at these centers based on the observations of these monitoring team.

The vigilance staff appointed at all land record centers will be quite helpful in providing relief to the public through the introduction of an efficient land record management information system. As CM Punjab has directed that the system should allow the depositing of dues at every land record center which are being established in government buildings on a permanent basis and a different project will go underway for extending the scope of these record centers.

Furthermore, while presiding a recently held meeting to improve services provided at the land record centers, Lahore Deputy Commissioner (DC) Sardar Saifullah Dogar has directed the concerned staff to complete computerization of the pending land record data. Taking notice of the involvement of middlemen in the mechanism related to property transfer and registration, the DC instructed that the land record centers be kept free of the land mafia.

It is pertinent to note here that Punjab govt started the computerization of land records with overall objectives to improve service delivery and to enhance the perceived level of tenure security, a while back in the reign of ex-CM Shahbaz Sharif. However, the system has not been sustained with efficiency afterwards. But now, the Director General (DG) of PLRA, Muhammad Aslam Rao claims that they have hired more staff for Arazi Record Center (ACR) to expedite the process of issuing online record of ownership.