ISLAMABAD, Jan 26: The World Bank has approved a $45.65 million credit to the Punjab government to improve its land records service delivery for a long-lasting tenure security and efficient operation of land markets.

The credit, from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessionary lending arm, has a 35-year maturity and a 10-year grace period, a World Bank statement said.

Under the Project, extracts from the land records (fards) will be provided within 30 minutes of application at the Service Centres.

In the current system it frequently takes weeks for this process to be completed. The total transaction cost associated with obtaining land record extracts is expected to be reduced by 80 per cent.

The Land Records Management and Information Systems Project is designed to upgrade the land records management system, for the province, by revising current business processes and associated legislation and regulations.

It will also establish Service Centres where land records will be maintained and would be available to the public in digital form, and pilot linkages between the land records system and the system for registration of deeds.

Punjab is the most populated province of Pakistan with 80.5 million inhabitants. Nearly 70 per cent of the population lives in rural areas. Agriculture plays an important role in the Province’s economy. However, the overall dispersed and non- transparent nature of its land records makes land rights uncertain, and negatively impacts economic development.

Land transactions involve a relatively high cost, and disputes about land rights are caused, among others, by the inefficient and archaic land records system, which has undergone very little change since the 19th Century. This constrains the efficient operation of land markets and results in land prices that are in excess of the discounted value of potential agricultural earnings from land.

“Land is at the heart of agriculture and the rural economy in Punjab. Land ownership and administration issues are vital,” said John Wall, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan. “By improving tenure security, this project will increase access to land and credit especially for the poor whose rights remain largely unprotected.”

The project will help improve business processes and increase institutional capacity at the provincial, district, and lower administrative levels, and put in place an automated land record system.

It will also include a set of public outreach activities. The goal will be improved service delivery to the population.