LAHORE - In a revolutionary step to end monopoly of revenue officials, the Punjab government has decided to issue land ownership deeds through banks.
In order to discuss modalities of this new system, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar chaired a high-level meeting at his office on Tuesday.
The chief minister was told that separate counters will be set up at commercial banks to facilitate people seeking ownership deeds of their lands.
The meeting decided to start an online system of issuance of ownership deeds from July 1. The chief minister noted that immediate disposal of public complaints relating to revenue matters was essential. “Any delay in public welfare projects is painful. I cannot sit silent over the pain and misery of people,” he observed.
Buzdar made it clear that public complaints about corruption by revenue staff were not tolerable and added that helpline/call centres should be activated to overcome corruption in the revenue department.
The chief minister said the system of depositing fees at land record centres should be introduced and added that scope of the land record centres should be expanded as soon as possible. He said that land record centres should be established at government buildings on a permanent basis.
He said that enforcement of the land utilisation policy should be ensured after approval and the settlement process should be completed as soon as possible in the Dera Ghazi Khan Division.
The chief minister was told that a transparent system of farming would be introduced by giving state land on lease. Minister for Revenue Malik Muhammad Anwar, chairman of P&D, SMBR, secretaries of C&W and finance departments, DG of the Punjab Land Record Authority and others attended the meeting.
TRANSPARENCY IN
DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
Buzdar has said that strict monitoring of development projects will be done to ensure transparency and right use of funds in the province.
In this regard, he said, CMIT, ACE and other departments have been given the responsibility to monitor development schemes. He said an effective monitoring mechanism has been designed for monitoring of different development projects including the DG Khan Development Package.
The chief minister has said the monitoring mechanism should be implemented in letter and spirit and all line departments should ensure transparency and monitoring process at every level.
Buzdar said he should be updated on progress on a daily basis and no compromise would be made on quality of construction work. He said that high quality of public welfare schemes and right use of public funds would be ensured. “I am the custodian of the public resources and no one will be allowed to waste resources in the province. I will keep an eye on the monitoring mechanism and any delay in development schemes or leniency will not be tolerated. The CMIT, ACE and other line departments should ensure strict monitoring of the process to complete the schemes well in time,” he added.