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.
Online Jalmahal Lease Application Process
The Land Ministry had launched the facility of online facility of Jalmahal lease applications for the ministry level through a circular issued on November 15, 2021.
It was decided to launch an online lease application to registered and bona fide fisheries co-operative societies following Government Jalmahal Management Policy, 2009 for obtaining Jalmahal lease from Districts and Upazilas in the general application through a notification on February 10, 2022.
It is to be noted that in the ‘Development Project’ lease applications for government Jalmahal and special types of Jalmahal of above 20 acres for 6 years are presented and approved at the meeting of the ‘government Jalmahal lease committee’ chaired by the land minister at the ministry level. In the ‘General Application’, the lease application of the government Jalmahal of ‘above 20 acres for 3 years are presented and approved in the meeting of the District Jalmahal Management Committee. In the ‘General Application’, the lease application of the government Jalmahals of above 20 acres for 3 years are presented and approved in the meeting of ‘Upazila Jalmahal Management Committee’.
Institutional Memory System:
The Institutional Memory System is a digital archive of the experiences of all those involved in the land.
It will preserve the experience of implementing an event, permanently preserve the experience of someone retiring/transferring, and all will have the opportunity to be benefitted from the institutional knowledge.
Barta app:
‘Barta’ is an information exchange/messageing app for the officers and employees under the Ministry of Land. Salient features of this app are instant voice/text exchanging, interaction among the agencies of the Ministry of Land, instantaneous Central/ Divisional or District reports creating.
