ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has decided to introduce an e-filing system in its finance and law wings, but the land directorate, which has been involved in a number of cases of fraud, has yet to move from a manual to computerised system.

A press release issued by the CDA on Sunday stated: “After shifting the office working of administration and human resource development directorates, CDA administration has now decided to introduce e-filing system in finance and law wings of the authority.”

The statement said that the move to a computerised filing system from paper files was the outcome of a strategy of the CDA administration to introduce best practices in the authority to ensure that transparency, austerity, security and swiftness prevail in day-to-day office work.

CDA spokesperson Mazhar Hussain said that the authority had decided to introduce an e-filing system in April. Under a pilot project, the system was introduced in the administration and human resource development directorates.

Land directorate to continue with manual system until next phase

He said that with the system operational in these two wings, in the second phase it will likely become operational in the finance and law directorates in a couple of months. It will then be expanded to other directorates as well, he added.

When asked about whether the land directorate will be moved to this system in light of the growing number of fraud

cases involving it, he said this wing would switch over to the e-filing system in the next phase.

Sources said that hundreds of plots in various sectors have been fraudulently allotted using fake signatures.

They said CDA high-ups are well aware of these cases, but none of the plots involved have been cancelled yet. In many cases, they said, it was the CDA’s own scrutiny committee that determined the plots were allotted fraudulently, but the CDA management has remained quiet on the matter of cancelling these plots.

“Currently, all such cases have been shelved,” an official from the land directorate said, adding that in many cases the fraudulently allotted plots were transferred using the one-window operation.

Before 2017, the land directorate used to allot plots to affected people - those whose land has been acquired by the CDA, entitling them to alternate plots - on the basis of choice. However, the chairman at the time then decided plots would only be allotted through balloting.

The CDA subsequently held balloting the same year, after which 800 plots in I-12 and I-11 were vacant. Many of these have since been allotted even though balloting has not been carried out since.

These plots have allegedly been allotted fraudulently using fake signatures, and plots were also fraudulently allotted in I-11, G-10, I-14 and D-13.

The CDA has posted out a number of employees from the land directorate in the last few months in an effort to bring transparency to its affairs, but the fraudulently allotted plots have not been cancelled.

CDA spokesperson Mazhar Hussain said the authority is dealing with the fraudulently allotted plots in accordance with the law. He said in the next phase the CDA

will move the land directorate to a computerised system to minimise the possibility of fraud.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2020