65pc of land records to be computerised in KP till Dec

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has taken a significant step towards eradicating Patwari culture by converting the land records of about 1,346 Mauzas into the digital system and another 905 Mauzas would be computerized till the end of the current year.

Around 65% of land records would be computerized till the end of December out of a total of 3,454 Mauzas. The project of land record digitalization will be completed by the end of 2022. The provincial government has established 40 state-of-the-art Service Delivery Centres (SDCs) while the remaining 18 centres would be completed by June 2022. Fards are issued to the general public on the spot while mutation documents are issued within three days. The government has already reduced the mutation charges from 6.5% to 2% for the facilitation of the general public.

Chief Minister Mahmood Khan told this correspondent that the manual record of land was a major cause of corruption, fraud and controversies. It was a priority of the government to complete the project and at the end of next year, the record of 58 Tehsils will be converted into the digital system. “This was a great challenge to convert the old record into the digital system. Now the government is ready to say goodbye to the centuries-old Patwari culture of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This will reduce the burden on courts and end family disputes,” he said.

Senior Member Board of Revenue Zafar Ali Shah told this scribe that the land computerization project was initiated in 2013 but only 346 Mauzas were converted from manual to the digital system but Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has issued instructions to complete the project within two years. Almost half of 1,346 Mauzas are already operational and another 905 will be converted at the end of 2021. He said the remaining 1,203 Mauzas land records would be converted into digital system till the end of 2022. The land of District Mardan has completely been converted from manual to computerization. “All records are available on one click. The state-of-the-art 40 Service Delivery Centres (SDC) are functional in different cities to facilitate the customers. A mobile van is also available for land records service at the doorstep of citizens”, he said.

Shah said the Board of Revenue has almost doubled its revenue from Rs 4,442 million to 7,176 million during 2020-21. All entries of mutation are made through bio-metric verification. Female quota has been introduced in Patwar Khana for the first time and 12 women have been appointed in KP.

He said the project of computerization of land records was of great importance and that after its completion, not only people would be facilitated in obtaining revenue records but they would also get rid of the Patwari culture and other legal issues.

According to the record available with this scribe, around Rs 558.33 million revenue was generated through digital transactions in SDCs from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021. Almost 24,458 mutations and 79,373 Fards were issued through the digital system.

Only six Service Delivery Centres (SDCs) were established during the past seven years but around 36 centers have been made operational in the current year.

An additional grant of almost Rs 85 million will be required to initiate procurement for the remaining 18 SDCs.

According to documents, the Service Delivery Centres are operational in Peshawar, Charsadda, Pabbi, Topi, Haripur, Balakot, Battagram, Alpuri, Khwazakhela, Karak, Banda Dawood Shah, Naurang, Lakki Marwat, Tank, Peshawar, Mardan, Kohat, Bannu, DI Khan, Paharpur, Burner, Daggar, Gaggra, and Abbottabad.

District Mardan has 176 Mauzas that are completely computerized. Abbottabad, 135, Peshawar, 108, Bunner, 122, Kohat, 125, Bannu, 106, DI Khan, 146, Charsadda, 19, Nowshera, 38, Karak, 38, Hangu, 18, Lakki, 54, Mansehra, 13, Battagram, 24, Swabi, 57, Haripur, 80, Swat, 32, Shangla, 35, and Tank 20 Mauzas’ land record has been converted into the digital system.