Using rural land records digitalization as a model, the Board of Revenue intends to digitize urban land records. Let’s first examine why it’s necessary.
Is Digitizing Urban Land Record Systems Necessary?
The Supreme Court of Pakistan, which earlier this year limited the function of patwari in urban property sales, purchases, and transfers, has asked for an alternate system of land records. Land registration is currently carried out using an antiquated and inherently corrupt method, according to the supreme court. It also emphasized that urban land record systems must be digitized in order to improve transparency and modernity.
The registration of deeds is now used to register urban property ownership, although this method lacks sufficient information. Registration of property such as a house in nova city Peshawar deeds is explicitly permitted without the requirement of supplying proof of ownership. Both governmental and private sector organizations have developed their own techniques for registering land rights in metropolitan areas because there is no transparent, computerized mechanism for doing so.
What Is A Patwari’s Job?
What exactly are the responsibilities and authority of a patwari? The Supreme Court has issued rulings restricting the role of a patwari in the sale and purchase of real estate for what reasons? In fact, a patwari is the most powerful and resourceful person in an area, even if he has the lowest official status. Why does he wield so much influence? Why does he have this job? A patwari is also the one who issues the most significant ownership document, the FARD. Only a patwari has access to the certificate of possession information.
The World Bank’s help and technical skills will be used to expedite the process.
The establishment of LRMIS
As of August, a local English-language newspaper said that Punjab has 6,934 patwaris, who are responsible for preserving the land records of 55 million landowners.
According to a 2007 agreement between Pakistani and World Bank officials, an initiative dubbed Land Record Management and Information System (LRMIS) in Punjab will combat land usurpation and corruption. All land records were made available to the public at low transaction costs, thereby increasing transparency and ensuring the long-term security of land rights holders.
LRMIS was originally planned to provide services in Punjab’s 18 districts. Later on, the initiative was extended to include all 36 localities. There was also a Project Management Unit (PMU) created in 2007 to manage the implementation of the overall interventions, which included the computerization of land records.
Pakistan Land Registry Authority (PLRA)
According to the Pakistan Land Registry Authority (PLRA), PLRA has digitized many records that were previously managed manually to boost land record systems in rural areas. To date, PLRA has completed the digitization of land records for more than 55 million small landowners, scanning 10 million pages of manual records in just five years. Land title information has also been digitized by the PLRA.
- Online access to land records can be found here.
- You can access land records, a property tax calculator, and other services via the Digital-PLRA App.
- Website/LRMIS – Punjab’s Government
- It’s not difficult at all. Android users only need to install the PLRA app.Lookup of registries
- A tax-planning tool
- a list of prices
- The procedure of registering
- Logging of grievances online
Traditionally, the sub-registrar office maintains registration data by hand. Digital-PLRA has automated this process. As a result, Arazi Record Centres now play an even more important function. Users can utilize the app’s property tax calculator in addition to looking up essential registration details in provincial land records. Overseas Pakistanis, including those who don’t call Pakistan home, can use the app to acquire up-to-date information about their property.
Digital-PLRA of Property
After the Supreme Court ordered the revenue offices to stop making changes to urban property records. A local English daily said that a transparent and organized method for managing urban land records was now necessary. Orders from the Supreme Court stated that patwarkhanas, or urban land record offices, would solely be responsible for keeping records. Urban property transfers were also out of the hands of the patwarkhanas. It is expected that the Punjabi government will soon begin the process of computerizing urban land records.
The work of preparing urban records is difficult since tax offices have a limited geographic reach. The Board of Revenue Punjab has control over some areas. There are several owners of the same property unit when it comes to record-keeping. You cannot rely on revenue records if you have errors and various owners of a property; they must be produced from scratch.
As well as this, a survey will require the compiling of data from the tax and excise offices. An official from the Lahore revenue department tells the Express Tribune that if the government doesn’t provide the tax department a transition period, it will be in a very difficult scenario with all mutations confiscated and no other system available. In order to conduct a survey, data from other departments would have to be combined with the revenue data record of right.'”
A GIS map of three districts in Punjab—Kasur, Lodhran, and Hafizabad—has been completed, according to the Punjab Land Reform Authority (PLRA).
