There are few people who have managed to get land registration and mutation services from a land registration office in Bangladesh without facing any undue harassment.
“It is a common experience to pay some extra money for land registration and mutation. So, we are helpless against the brokers and dishonest officials. On the other hand, the process of land documentation itself is a complex matter. Even educated people sometimes face difficulty in understanding the laws and procedures,” said M Ibrahim Hossain, a businessman who was recently waiting in front of a sub-registrar’s office inside the Registration Complex at Tejgaon in Dhaka. “I submitted all documents two years ago for registering my land. Yesterday, they called me to get my original land document. I have contacted the officials and they have asked me to wait,” the 44-year-old said about the service he was there to get.
“I am satisfied with the help I received from the registration office today. I notice many changes in its services from what I saw two years back. But still, they have to improve their mindset to provide better service. Once, land documentation was recorded with a mere fingerprint. But now, we have to submit photocopies of TIN (tax identification number), NID (national identification) card, photos and other documents with the application for registration and mutation (change of ownership). If the land management system of the entire country becomes computerised, we will definitely benefit more.”
When contacted, Majibur Rahman, head assistant, District Registrar Office, Dhaka, told this correspondent: “Before, we did not receive ledger books and other necessary papers on time. So, it took two or more years to provide service. But now the papers are available in our office and anybody can get service within six months.”
Rahman said he did not have much information on digital land management. “But they are developing the registration system gradually and clients are getting satisfactory service,” he added.
Rahman also claimed there is a shortage of staff at the registration office: “Yes, we need more human resources to provide better service. If the government recruits new officers, the people will get proper service from us.”
The people of this country have an integral relationship with land-related issues as our socio-economic structure is land-centric. To make land administration more transparent and accountable, the government is working on introducing a digital land management system by making land records available online.
Matinul Haque, director general, Department of Land Records and Survey (DLRS), said: “Providing land service is difficult and complex because it is related to every person in this country. So, we are transforming the traditional method of land management and mutation into a digital land management system (DLMS). To simplify land management countrywide and collect land development tax, we have installed an ‘integrated digital land record’ software to digitalise the whole system. We are scanning existing mouza (administrative district) maps and khatian (record of rights) copies and storing them on a computer database. After completing this work, people can get services, including land records and surveys, through our website. We expect that the scope of corruption will be reduced after digitalisation of the land record system.”
“There are three types of survey records: RS (revisional survey), CS (cadastral survey), and SA (state acquisition). DLMS of RS records, which is a popular mutation system in our country, has been done,” the DG said.
A DLMS pilot project was carried out from July 2011 to June 2017 in 45 upazilas (sub-districts) under seven districts, including Dinajpur, Gopalganj, Sherpur, Pabna, Jamalpur, Gazipur and Rajshahi. Haque said digital land records for those areas have been completed. Now, they have to develop infrastructure and human resources to expand the service across the country.
The digital land management system, or DLMS, has its central data centre at the Department of Land Records and Survey at Tejgaon. About the centre, M Akhter Hossain, assistant settlement officer of the department, said: “All digital land data collected from local offices are being kept here. A backup centre is located at UGC (University Grants Commission) at Agargaon.”
“Now, it is our challenge to change CS (cadastral survey) into digital cadastral survey (DCS) to improve the service. For this, we have visited Australia and New Zealand to get some ideas from their digital land survey systems,” Hossain added.
About the progress of DLMS in Bangladesh, Shashanka Shekar Sarkar, assistant director (survey), land record and survey department, said: “We still have many shortcomings when it comes to digitalising the system. When one uses any software, he or she might face problems with its new features. Most of our staff members are used to doing the work by hand, and so they are facing difficulty with using technology.”
Sarkar also said their surveyors have been doing the work manually for a long time. Few surveyors have a diploma in survey technology, which is a four-year course offered by Bangladesh Technical Education Board. Those who have completed the course can adapt to the digital system easily. But those who are older and used to the old system are facing trouble with the new system. So, collecting data from the field has become a major problem, he added.
“We have been working since 1996 to modernise this system. There is a shortage of staff for data processing. Besides, the mindset of officials regarding adaptation of digital technology is not changing. By 2020, the old officials will go on retirement, and we hope the new ones will be able to use the new system more easily. However, technological challenges and data security are important issues that must be addressed for getting optimum service from the digital system,” Sarkar said.
Prosenjit Roy, system support associate of Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Surveys, an Indian company working with the DLMS project in Bangladesh, said: “We are working at upazila level now. We can monitor the local land offices from this (DLRS) office. Local operators can upload data and they need not worry if the network is down, because we have an emergency data recovery centre.”
“Our staff is well trained and they train local system operators on DLMS. Each centre has the same infrastructure, so they can work comfortably. We have also given them primary idea on how to tackle technical problems and fix them among the local operators. In case they find more problems, we have telephone lines so they can get help from our system support analysts, who are trained professionals,” Roy added.
According to recent news reports, copyists (nokol nobish), deed writers (dolil lekhok), middlemen, stamp vendors and even registration officials are not in favour of digital land management system, as they fear loss of income. However, experts believe if DLMS is successfully implemented, unnecessary harassment of people seeking services and scope for bribes will be reduced.
Masum Billah, a deed writer at Kaliganj upazila sub-registrar office in Jhenaidah district, told this correspondent over the phone: “I, along with other deed writers, am using a computer now to write land documents. So, we have no problem if the land system becomes digital as using computers to type land documents is becoming popular day by day. There is no way to mismanage documents, because without receipt from the land office, nobody can get the main documents.”
“I have been working for five years at the land register office. In that period of time, I have seen untold sufferings of the people. Most people do not have proper idea about land ownership and transfer, and of course, it is a difficult matter to understand at first. People are more aware now and implementation of technology is making the service easier than before,” the 33 year-old deed writer added.
Regarding the actual picture of DLMS at field level, Rasedul Hasan, assistant commissioner (land), Jhenaigati upazila, Sherpur district, told The Weekend Independent: “A computer server has been set up at the land office. Training of our officials has been completed. So, we will be able to provide digital land recording services from September.”
The land official expects that after launching of the new service, the time for recording documents will be reduced. “We are using LAN (local area network) to record data on our computer and WAN (wide area network) to connect with the data centre in Dhaka,” the assistant commissioner said.
“The main problem will be scanning documents, as some contain 100 sheets of paper or more. Thus, it may be time-consuming. On the other hand, it is new for the people, who need time to become familiar with the system,” Hasan added.
Zahid Ahmed, advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, said: “I have been conducting land-related cases for many years. There is no one who does not suffer a lot when getting a certificate of land ownership from the land office. So, computerisation of the land sector will help to reduce the number of cases.”
Matinul Haque, the director general of DLRS, said: “We want to reduce the number of land-related cases. For that, the most important thing is accuracy of land maps. If we continue the digital survey and collect data from now on, one day it will be possible to digitalise all the land in the country and people will be benefitted.”
The DG further said they are going to implement another project where modern technologies, including GPS (global positioning system) and ETS (electronic total station, will be used for making digital maps. “We are going to start a new land automation project and we will set up GPS points around the country. For the project, we will survey Barguna and Patuakhali districts. There is another land automation project under the Ministry of Land; we will make sure land mutation at mouza level,” he said.
“We are going to start DLMS in 61 districts soon under a pilot project, named ‘Strengthening Access to Land and Property Rights for All Citizens of Bangladesh’. Right now, we are in the process of approving the project,” Haque added. n
Photos: Internet.