KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly’s Public Acco­unts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday directed the board of revenue (BoR) to fully preserve and make public the land records of government and private land in Karachi, Hyderabad, and other districts.

The direction came during the PAC meeting, presided over by PAC Chairman Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, after it was revealed that the board of revenue had failed to complete a 20-year-old project aimed at preserving the 150-year-old land revenue record, worth billions of rupees.

The meeting was attended among others by committee members Khurram Karim Soomro, Qasim Soomro, and Taha Ahmed and Senior Member Board of Revenue Khalid Hyder Shah.

The meeting reviewed the audit paragraphs for the board of revenue for 2023-2024 and learnt that the project, launched in 2005 with a budget of Rs486 million, was meant to digitally scan and preserve the records.

Audit raises objections over dept’s poor performance, waste of Rs328m, with little accounted for

However, the board cited a shortage of imported lamination paper and unavailability of the complete record as reasons for closing the project in June 2025, surrendering Rs100 million.

The board of revenue claimed that 80 per cent of the land revenue record had been preserved, with 800,000 pages out of 10 million pages and 5,000 out of 19,000 maps scanned and preserved.

However, the audit raised objections over the department’s poor performance, noting that Rs328 million had been spent, with little accounted for, and millions of rupees were being wasted on contract staff salaries.

When questioned by the PAC chairman, the BoR said that rising costs and staff salary constraints led to its closure.

When asked by PAC Member Khurram Soomro why the board of revenue was not providing the record to the audit, the officials informed that 80 per cent of the available land revenue record had been preserved, but the record beyond 150 years was available.

The Public Acco­unts Committee directed the board to complete the preservation work and make the records public, emphasising the need for transparency and accountability in land management.

Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2026