GUJRAT: The Punjab Land Record Authority (PLRA) plans to establish 115 more Arazi Record Centres (ARCs) at Qanoongoi level across the province.

Currently, the ARCs are working at the tehsil level. These ARCs reduce the pressure of clients at the tehsil level and the tehsils where land record mutations are around 5,000 or more annually, will now have ARCs at Qanoongoi level which usually comprises patwar circles in the Land Revenue Department.

As many as 1,135 posts have been approved by the Punjab government. These include 135 land record officers (LROs), 135 assistant service centre in-charges (ASCIs), 500 service centre officers (SCOs), also known as digital patwaris, and 335 class 4 employees.

The recruitment of LROs may be processed through the Punjab Public Service Commission and the rest of the appointments may be made by the PLRA after having written tests through the National Testing Service (NTS) and interviews. The PLRA is yet to decide how to recruit the required staff.

A senior official at the PLRA headquarters Lahore told Dawn that the whole recruitment process was expected to be completed in a couple of months whereas the sites for 115 Qanoongoi level ARCs had also been finalised.

The PLRA director general has already written a letter to the Communications and Works department to initiate the renovation work on the approved sites. These ARCs will be established in the government buildings and some people have allocated the precious pieces of their land for the establishment of these centres in their respective areas.

Among them are MNA Jaffar Khan Leghari (Dera Ghazi Khan) who has allocated a two-kanal piece of land at Choti Zairin and another landowner allocated his piece of land in Dunyapur, Lodhran.

A spokesman for the PLRA said the project was expected to be completed by January 2020 and it would help reduce rush at the ARCs.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2019