GILGIT: The Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) government has decided to carry out computerisation of land records in 10 districts of the region.

The GB government also decided to adopt e-procurement from next year. A meeting, chaired by GB Chief Secretary Mohyuddin Ahmed Wani, was held in Gilgit to decide further actions in the domain of Land Reforms and Land Records Preparation, Updation and Computerisation.

It was decided in the meeting that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the governments of GB and Punjab shall be signed within one week. This MoU is aimed at helping Gilgit-Baltistan move on towards swift updation and computerisation of land records. Among other things, the Punjab government shall extend technical cooperation, give exposure visits and trainings to GB officials.

Punjab govt to extend cooperation, train officials

GB Board of Revenue has drafted the Land Reforms Act which shall be presented in seminars all across GB for discussions and building of consensus. Wider public consultations shall be held involving all stakeholders. Commissioners shall hold these seminars forthwith.

A consensus draft of the law shall be presented to the cabinet and GB assembly for promulgation. Settlement record of unsettled districts shall be prepared and record of the settled districts shall be updated on war footing.

Land records of all districts including lands developed by the ETI project shall be digitised through a specialised team. Meanwhile, to ensure transparency and efficiency in tendering process, the GB government will adopt e-procurement from Jan 31 next year.

According to Mr Wani, another milestone has been achieved by the GB government. He said that the government has set-up its own procurement authority which conducted its first ever meeting under his chairmanship yesterday with Farrukh Atiq Khan, the first managing director (MD) of the board, briefing the board regarding its working and aims.

It was decided that all actions needed to operationalise the authority such as setting up of a work place, hiring of staff and adoption of e-procurement technology would be completed no later than Jan 31, 2023.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2022