The computerization of the land record system is underway in all the provinces of the country and is rightly hailed as a welcome step to bring efficiency to the land management system, improving the recovery of land revenue and eliminating corruption of the revenue staff. While the significance of much-needed automation of the land revenue administration cannot be overestimated, the extent to which the initiative will serve to end ‘patwari culture’ and other putative purposes is contingent on how its implementation is structured.
The patwari culture refers to influence that a low-scale revenue official enjoys because of his monopoly of handling land records and issuing title documents to land owners. More than that, a patwari can tamper with the record to change ownership and thus deprive a lawful owner of his property. In the event somebody makes recourse to civil courts to claim his right, the less said about the ordeal of litigation the better. But a patwari cannot perform these illegal tasks with impunity without any political support. In fact the patwari culture has been maintained and sustained because of local influential politicians who use their capability to manage the postings of revenue officials to arm-twist the latter to manipulate land records to their benefit. The culture of any organization is a miniaturized reflection of the prevalent national culture. Somewhere it is dubbed as patwari culture, and at another “thana culture.”
The patwari culture will continue in one form or the other until we have a change of political culture. Unless the Chief Ministers are able to resist the desire of their MPs to have patwaris and SHOs of their own choice posted in their constituencies, these officials will remain pawns in their hands. The fact of the matter is that a DCO who is a grade 18 or 19 officer cannot post patwaris according to merit because of resistance from public representatives.
Another factor in the perisistence of patwari culture is a lack of accountability. The probability of being caught for a malfeasance and certainty of punishment are essential pillars of an effective accountability set-up. In our administrative machinery, such an accountability system is almost non-existent. Different checks and balances put in place have become tools of corruption.
The way the land records project is being implemented in Pakistan will also compromise its primary objective of the provision of an accurate copy of a record of rights. The manual record in its present state contains many inadequacies and forgeries. According to the manual system, a jamabandi should be prepared after regular intervals to update the record and field maps corresponding to physical alterations. Such update requires intensive exercise of field surveys and holding common assemblies by revenue officials. Because of the inattention of higher revenue authorities, the jamabandis have not been prepared in most of the areas. And now the same old record with many forged entries is being scanned and no efforts have been undertaken to ensure the correctness of the record. As Pakistan started computerization much later than its neighbouring countries, the haste with which it is being carried out now will lead to defeat of its main objectives. India launched the computerization of land records in 1988 and worked out a strategy for its implementation in various states in phased manner over the next two decades.
Also the putative role the digitization will play in bringing an end to the evasion of agricultural income tax is not clear. Presently, the position is that agriculture income tax falls within the domain of provincial governments but no effort has been made to assess and recover the dues as required under relevant legislation, which is Agriculture Income Tax Act. And the share of agriculture in national tax-to-GDP ratio remains less than one percent. The reason behind this lack of effort is that political figures with big landholdings are not willing to pay taxes. To prove the point, the automation of Income Tax structure was undertaken with the purpose to end tax avoidance and evasion but nothing substantial has been achieved because of lack of tax culture. The digitized documentation will provide accurate figures of total acreage in the names of big landowners, but assessment and recovery will remain a function of political will.
In other words, removing political interference in bureaucratic functions and ensuring authenticity of the record through adequate updation of record of rights are necessary for realization of benefits of land record computerization. To allow the bureaucracy a free hand in their functioning is indispensable to curb the influence of the patwari mafia. The independence of the bureaucracy will set in motion a virtuous cycle. If the common man is able to get his rightful claim without beseeching a political figure of his area, they will cast votes of their free will and elect honest people in power. And in turn, these elected people will ensure legislation for independent functioning of the bureaucracy and building a strong accountability system. If the fundamental trends remain unchanged, the people with access to security passwords of computerized databases will just replace the patwaris and little will change in real terms.