HYDERABAD, April 26: Sindh Minister for Revenue Syed Murad Ali Shah said on Saturday that his ministry would take stern action against land grabbers and he had already directed the Directorate of Revenue Inspection to detect and prepare a comprehensive report on the criminals.

The minister told journalists at the secretariat of Board of Revenue after presiding over a meeting of revenue officers that large-scale illegal encroachments on government land indicated failure of previous governments.

He said earlier at the meeting that the government had decided to modernise the department to enhance its capacity for tax collection and ensure foolproof preservation of record of rights of public and private properties.

He said that the government had planned to launch a crash programme for bringing reforms in the department and converting the system of microfilming into digitalisation with backup support to enhance its professional efficiency.

He said that the step was imperative because the life of a microfilm was not more than a hundred years while one could preserve record for centuries through digitalisation system.