KP CM Mahmood Khan directs Revenue Dept to speed up land record digitization

PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Thursday directed the Revenue Department to speed up the digitization of land record and take steps to functionalize all the service delivery centres in the province.

He said this while chairing a meeting which reviewed the progress on the reform initiatives being introduced in the Revenue Department, said an official handout.

A KP cabinet member Qalander Khan Lodhi, Senior Member Board of Revenue Syed Zafar Ali Shah and others attended the meeting.

The chief minister said that physical progress on the implementation of all the reform initiatives should be ensured as per the given timelines. Mahmood Khan directed the department to ensure issuance of ‘Fard’ of lands to the applicants within two days after receiving the applications. He directed that a comprehensive strategy should be devised to make the land acquisition process for government departments fast and easier. Earlier, the participants of the meeting were briefed in details about the performance of the Revenue Department.

The chief minister was told that major reforms were underway in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Department to change the entire Patwar culture. He was informed that various information technology interventions were being introduced in the land record, mutation, registration, tax collection and all other matters of the department to ensure maximum transparency and efficiency.

It was added that through the tax reforms the department had done away with duplication of various taxes and reduced its tax ratio by 4.5 per cent to give maximum relief to the general public. The officials said the step had increased the overall tax collection ratio of the department.

It was informed that Rs 4904 million were collected during the last fiscal year which was the 87 per cent of target. Similarly, during the first five months of current financial year Rs.2877 million have been collected which was the 65 per cent of the total target.

It was told that 1500 Kanal state land has been retrieved so far having the total cost of Rs. 2 billion, adding under the Revenue Court Disposal System 24,524 cases have been addressed thus far. The chief minister was told that 19 Service Delivery Centers had been established in the different districts of the province.