The history of change of ownership can be found online before buying the land
Minister of Lands Saifuzzaman Chowdhury has expressed hope that if land registration under the purview of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs is completed digitization quickly, it will be interlinked with the Namjari (mutation) under the purview of the Ministry of Lands nationwide. At the same time, he also hinted that before buying land in the future, the buyer will be able to know the history of change of ownership of the land immediately online.
This was said by the Land Minister in a two-day workshop on 'Integrated and Comprehensive Land Administration in Bangladesh' organized by the Ministry of Lands, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and the World Bank at a hotel in Dhaka on Monday afternoon.
Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, while speaking as the chief guest in the program said that, land is an essential element in the overall economic development of the country. Also, reducing land concentration issues will save valuable human time and money – which can be spent on more productive activities. Efficient and sustainable land management has an important role to play in progress in both the micro and macro economies. This is why Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given so much importance to digitization of land services. As a part of this, if the Bangladesh Digital Survey is completed nationwide, there will be no need for field surveys. We are working to establish a system so that people can complete all the legal procedures for changing land ownership without going to the land office. And efficient, transparent and accountable land management plays an important role in the economic growth of the country. The workshop was presided over by Land Secretary Md. Khalilur Rahman.
The Land Secretary, while speaking as the President said that, a case has already been filed in the Judicial Court under the Land Crime Prevention and Remedy Act. We are observing these. Apart from this, the work of making the rules of this law is also progressing rapidly. He said, the issue of women's proper rights over inherited wealth is being looked at very seriously.
Former Secretary and Chairman of International Leasing and Financial Services Limited, Nazrul Islam Khan, Joint Secretary of Land Ministry Dr. Md Zahid Hossain Panir, World Bank Lead Land Administration Specialist Mika-Petri Torhonen, World Bank Senior Land Administration Specialist Dong Qi Kwak and others were the expert negotiators on the first day of the workshop.
Officials of the Ministry of Lands and Ministry of Law, Ministry of Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and the departments/organizations under these, representative officers of the Ministry of Finance, land service development consultants of the Ministry of Lands, officials of land offices directly providing land services at the field level, officials of settlement offices and registration offices and vendor organizations of land services digitization activities attended the workshop.
It may be noted that, a lot of progress has already been made as a result of digitization in land management. Digitization has made citizen service enhancement and government land management much easier. However, many initiatives are still to be taken to meet the challenges of the future and solve the unaddressed problems of citizens. Among them, the workshop presented and discussed issues related to hereditary tenure reform, land valuation, modernization of land management system, renewable energy. The second day of the workshop is scheduled to be held on October 25, 2023.
