THE cumbersome procedure for farmers to get their land records authenticated has been a major hassle in their effort to procure bank loans. The situation has been worsened since the revenue records were burnt by angry protesters reacting to Benazir’s assassination in December 2007. The computerisation of revenue records is moving at a slow pace.
After the recent floods, farmers need funds badly to grow Kharif crops. Sindh growers complain that the province does not get its due share in agriculture loans
It has been over three years since the record is perhaps not reconstructed or properly preserved. Even the Sindh High Court, Hyderabad circuit bench, had expressed its ire over slackness being shown by concerned officials for preservation of revenue record. The court, through its May 28, 2009 order, had even restrained the revenue authorities from mutating the record.
Senior Member Board of Revenue(BoR) Ghulam Ali Shah Pasha had informed the bench that funds were the main hurdle in this regard and the court had passed another directive too. But since then no one has heard of any update although record’s computerisation is said to be progressing.
Until July last year, a blame game continued between finance and BoR authorities with Senior Member Revenue Ghulam Ali Shah Pasha accusing additional secretary finance Sindh of misleading the court by stating in a letter that ‘BoR is wrongfully using court orders to extract more government funds for an assignment which does not cost much.’
Abadgars need revenue record to prove ownership of their land on the basis of form-VII, receipts of Dhal (tax) and in case these documents are not available revenue officials have to make on the spot verifications which they normally avoid for lethargy. They have not conducted verification for all burnt records. Board of Revenue authorities have not done anything after Dec 27, 2007 mass scale arson incidents.
“The department perhaps is avoiding computerisation of revenue record because they have their own vested interests. Once the record is computerised chances of interpolation, forgery and duplication will be lessened”, said Syed Mehmood Nawaz Shah, general secretary Sindh Abadgar Board. He alleged that revenue officials demand money for issuing sales certificates to growers in any land transaction.
Software programmes are available and even government is working on satellite imageries in different departments particularly for development works. The same approach can be applied to preservation of revenue record once and for all. The records of around 518 Dehs fully and 344 Dehs partially were burnt in Sindh, according to Provincial Record Cell BoR in Sindh as a result of Dec 27, 2007 arson incidents. There are 5,947 Dehs in 122 talukas of Sindh.
SAB president Abdul Majeed Nizamani welcomes the proposed computerisation of revenue record but says it will take time. He states that process of verification and cross verification is a difficult process when growers need sales certificate for land.
Mehmood Shah says by now the BoR authorities should have completed reconstruction of record in the affected Dehs. According to him, revenue officials didn’t improve their working though three years have passed and when a grower can’t prove ownership of his land for one or the other reason how will he be able to seek loan for Kharif crops, he asks. He has learnt that so far records of only 60-70 Dehs has been prepared as revenue officials claim that khatedars are not cooperating with them when they visit the affected areas.
This indicates a serious problem. In absence of pass books, the growers are not expected to get loans this Kharif season. A group of growers, says Nadeem Shah from Thatta district, had approached revenue authorities last month and in December for seeking pass books. They were told that revenue officials would hold open katchery to verify their claims and the BoR would be informed about such claims.
Around 20-25 per cent of loan disbursement has been affected in Rabi season because of this issue. Growers are going to confront the same problem in the Kharif, he says. “Until floods, the growers didn’t seek loans as much, but floods have changed the situation altogether. If they didn’t get money for Kharif sowing it will be a major setback for them,” he says.
No comments:
Post a Comment