Land registration app likely to be launched this month

A smartphone app to facilitate the people applying to the Sindh government’s revenue department for land registration is likely to be launched this month. Caretaker revenue, commerce and industries minister disclosed this while talking to different delegations representing people from different walks of life who called on him on Sunday.

Muhammad Younus Dagha said that once launched, the app would allow applicants to check the status of their land registration applications online, without the need to repeatedly visit the revenue service offices.

Dagha said that with the support of the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB), the revenue department has made the app for enabling people to instantly check the status of their land registration applications.

He said that large-scale tempering with the revenue record of the provincial government has been detected during its latest scrutiny. The revenue service record is being computerised to save it from tempering in future, he added.

He also said that owing to the risk of tempering, banks are reluctant to accept the land documents issued by the revenue service as surety as well. The computerised system being developed by the revenue department will rule out any chances of fraudulent practices, he added.

He disclosed that the record of the industrial lands in the province under the aegis of the Sindh Industrial Trading Estate is being computerised, hoping that this project would be completed by December.

He reiterated the resolve of the interim provincial government to adopt a firm mechanism for rectifying and protecting the revenue record. He said the process to rectify land records would help ease hardships of people, who otherwise face problems due to unauthorised changes in the revenue record.

Dagha said the exploitation of vast mineral resources in the province would go a long way in improving the national economy. He said the extraction of Thar coal reserves is one such shining example of exploiting a mineral resource for the massive production of electricity for the entire country.

The caretaker minister suggested that the copper and granite reserves in the country be exploited in a similar manner for the good of the economy.

In September the Sindh Board of Revenue (BoR) and the PITB signed a service level agreement for the complete automation of field revenue offices for using digital technology to transparently preserve their records and provide online systems to the public for swiftly obtaining all land-related services in the province.

Dagha told the media on the occasion that this agreement would ensure ease and transparency in the registration and mutation process of land through automation. He said this would eliminate delays in work, save people’s time and provide real-time updates through a special mobile app. The new IT system will also facilitate running an automated system of accountability, he added.

He also said they aim to activate the land deed tracking system within a week, explaining that it would be based on the issuance of the electronic token in all sub-registrar offices in Sindh. With the unique ID and QR code, senior BoR officers will be able to review the performance of sub-registrar offices, and take timely action against delays and poor performance, he added.