PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has directed the authorities of Board of Revenue (BoR) to expedite the computerisation of land record in the province with special focus on completion of the process in the provincial capital within next three months.

In order to ensure easy access of public to basic services, he also directed to take steps for establishment of service delivery centres at the subdivision level in every district with the aim to ensure issuance of ‘Fard’ (land ownership papers) and other estate-related documents in minimum possible time.

The chief minister was chairing a performance review meeting of the BoR here the other day. During a briefing about progress made by the board, the meeting was told that first of its kind e-stamp paper initiative had been formally launched in the province as part of the government’s effort to improve e-governance.

E-stamp paper will prove an important step in preventing land disputes, forgery of documents and issuance of backdated stamp papers. Besides, this initiative will also help in the determination of actual cost of land and minimise the administrative costs of printing stamp papers.

Mahmood chairs meeting to review BoR’s performance

It was stated that Geographic Information System lab was being established for the first time in the province, while GIS-based settlement had been introduced in different districts of KP.

The participants were informed that so far 48 service delivery centres had been established and made operational and they were providing estate-related services to the people through one-window operation. It was said that 10 more service delivery centres would be established by end of the current financial year.

As per instructions of the provincial government, issuance of ‘Fard’ through service delivery centres was being ensured within 30 minutes whereas in revenue estates not yet digitally operationalised the same document was issued in two days.

In addition, the BoR has retrieved 8,350 kanals of state land from land grabbers. Moreover, for the first time women had been allocated quota in patwar cadre and first batch of 100 patwar candidates had passed out whereas the second batch of 120 such candidates had been selected for training in the Revenue Academy.

Furthermore, Succession Act and Rules, 2021, have been enacted for issuance of succession certificate through Nadra.

The meeting was told that the draft bill for establishment of Land Record Authority had been prepared. Moreover, official website of BoR has been developed for public awareness.

CM’s special assistant Taj Mohammad Tarand, MPA Mian Sharafat Ali, BoR Senior Member Zakir Hussain Afridi, secretary finance Ikramullah Khan and other concerned officials attended the meeting.

Published in Dawn, October 23th, 2022