|
|
| February 14, 2006 | Tuesday | Muharram 15, 1427 |
WB to provide $60 million to improve land record service
ISLAMABAD, Feb 13: The World Bank will provide $60 million for improving land record service delivery in Punjab that will help solve the land ownership and administration issues in the province.
Project documents available with Dawn show that in Punjab high transaction costs and difficulties associated with the land registration system continue to affect land owners and prospective land owners, particularly the poor who have small holdings and less access to information or resources.
This makes them vulnerable to the predatory behaviour of middlemen, besides lowering the liquidity of family assets composed in whole or in part of land.
The World Bank project will supplement the ongoing efforts of the Punjab government for the modernization of the land records. It will set the foundation of a modernized, more accessible and conclusive land records system by generating and strengthening the capacity of relevant entities.
The project will develop and deploy an accountability-prone land records system and all other pre-service delivery tasks. It will provide cost-effective land record services at all levels and monitor the quality and efficiency of the services provided, besides assessing its impacts.
Under the project, an automated land record system would be established in all the districts. First-generation applied software for the system has been under development as part of a pilot project activity since 2001. While second-generation software will be procured based on technical specifications developed on the basis of learning during the pilot project phase.
A data cleansing and data entry process will be carried out in all the districts. Data entry and validation work is already in the advanced stage in the pilot districts.
The bank will finance a Project Management Unit (PMU) within the Board of Revenue, small project monitoring groups at the district level and annual social assessments/user surveys to monitor and assess project impacts.
The Board of Revenue will be the implementing agency. Overall project management is vested in the PMU, placed directly under the senior member BOR.
A district operation committee will be established, chaired by the executive district officer and consisting of the revenue heads at the tehsils. At the provincial level, two committees will provide the oversight and inter-institutional coordination.
|
|
