Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury said that under the direction of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Land is emphasizing the establishment of sustainable land management by introducing digital services and amending the laws and regulations. In a sustainable land system, no one can occupy any land without proper documents. As a result, illegal occupants will not get a chance to grab land.
He was speaking as the chief guest at the inaugural function of ‘Barta (Message), Institutional Memory System and Online Jalmahal Lease Application Process’ held at Bhumi Bhaban in Tejgaon on Thursday. Land Secretary Md. Mustafizur Rahman PAA was present as the chair and Director General of the Department of Fisheries Khandaker Mahbubul Haque was the special guest.
Saifuzzaman Chowdhury further said that the land asset management of all the Sairat Mahals of the government will gradually come under digitalization. In the meantime, 78 percent of government land assets, Khas lands, and Sairat Mahal schedule have been uploaded to the land information bank.
Once the Land Information Bank is fully operational, it will be possible to lease government resources to the concerned professionals and businessmen with transparency and efficiency. This will increase the revenue of the government manifold - said the land minister.
The land secretary said plans have already been made to set up a payment system for land property leasing by integrating it with an automated invoicing system. Then there will be no need to receive a bank draft for payment. As a result, future leaseholders will no longer have to go to the bank.
The land secretary further said that the bona fide fishermen used to face various problems because of various tactics of the middlemen and brokers in the Jalmahal leasing process. Now there is no such opportunity. The land secretary said no complaints were received after the online Jalmahal application was experimentally started.
DG of the Fisheries Department, said that due to the online Jalmahal application system, genuine fishermen will be able to get Jalmahal lease by taking part in the competition. He added that more than 1.4 million fishermen have already been registered across the country.
At today’s inaugural function, the Lands Minister sent greetings to all Ministry of Land officials by ‘Barta’ app. In addition, the president of a fisheries co-operative society applied for Jalmahal online at the venue. The Land service digitization monitoring cell chief Dr. Jahid Hossain Panir, PAA gave a presentation on Institutional Memory System.
Replying to a question from reporters after the event, the land minister said that if the issue of inheritance of the property of third gender people is brought under the purview of the law, they will be able to get redressal of their problem within the legal framework.
Member of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Land Ministry Umme Fatema Nazma Begum, Land Reform Board Chairman Soleman Khan along with officials from various levels of Ministry of Land and its affiliated offices and agencies, Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock and Department of Fisheries were present on the event.
