1. FROM CLOTH BAGS TO LAND RECORD SERVICE CENTERS – EXPERIENCES FROM A WORLD BANK FUNDED PROJECT IN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN
Linus Pott
Global Land and Geospatial Unit
World Bank
2017 World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty
Washington DC, March 20-24, 2017

2. 1. Introduction Agriculture plays a crucial role in Pakistan’s economy
Land distribution is highly skewed and women’s land rights are not granted in practice
Pakistan Vision 2025 and Punjab Growth Strategy 2018 emphasize important role of land governance
25% of Pakistan’s current GDP = Agriculture
74% of women and 34% of men are employed in the agricultural sector
61% of the population lives in rural areas
37% of rural households own land
Punjab:100 million inhabitants (53% of Pakistan’s total population)
20-40% of the rural population is landless or near landless
Women’s land rights not granted in practice
Government acknowledges important role of land governance
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3. 2. The former land administration system in Punjab - Background
Century old system, influenced by British colonial rule
Patwari:
Lowest revenue officers
Sole custodians of land records
Land records physically carried in a cloth bag
Land administration system is mainly focused on revenue generation. The system dates back centuries. The first systems were develop din the 12th century and were further developed under British colonial rule. System remained almost unchanged after independence.
A Patwar Circle is a revenue area comprised of several villages. This area falls under the responsibility of the Patwari, the lowest revenue officer. The Patwaris record land ownership and use and capture this information on manual land records and maps. They have the authority to make changes relating to ownership, use and taxation in the original land records
The Patwaris are the sole authority to issue copies of land records (‘fards’). Fards entail information about the land parcel and the land owner. They are of high importance as they are required for many other government related services
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4. Within the basta the Patwari carry 17 registers out of which many are land related. Among them are a registers documenting current land ownership (‘Haqdaran Zamin’), corrections of errors in the Haqdaran Zamin (‘Fard Badar’), family trees of land owners, sales and other land transactions, information of land tenants, information on soil, and information on the crops grown on different land parcels
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7. 2. The former land administration system in Punjab - Challenges
Accessibility
Women’s rights
Costs
Time
Transparency
Corruption
Tenure Security
Land distribution
Land markets
Access to credit
Hard to get hold of Patwari, especially for women; Travelling, bribes, fees not clear
to reach them people need to pay money for travels;
Fees unclear; no access to records for landowners
Take bribes/transport money
All of these points affect tenure security – cases where Patwari manipulated the records in favor of some landowners
Unequal land distribution
Land markets not efficient
Access to credit problematic

8. 151 Land Record Service Centers established
Implemented by Board of Revenue (BoR); 2007 to 2016; financed by the World Bank
As a first step: 1967 Punjab Land Revenue Act and 1968 Punjab Land Revenue Rules amended in 2011/2012
151 Land Record Service Centers established
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9. Custom LRMIS software developed and enhanced
Registration of Deeds interface and GIS application piloted
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10. >2000 Service Center staff trained
>50 million land records digitized
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11. Information and awareness campaigns conducted Add NUMBER!
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12. Patwari
LRMIS
Satisfaction
<30%
>95%
Time
Several days to weeks
Ø 2 hours
Costs
PKR 6,241 (US$ 59)
PKR 2,550 (US$ 24)
Tenure security
Low
>60% perceive higher tenure security
Accessibility
144 Service Centers; queue system; women counters
Women’s rights
Not approachable
Women counters; inheritance mutations
Transparency
Website; display of service fees; feedback mechanisms

13. Key Success Factors

14. I. Planning process Four pilot projects International experiences
Business process re-engineering assessments
Social assessments
Pilot from ; pilot in 2001; pilots in 2005
Experiences from India and Thailand taken into account
2 studies informed the technical design and communication campaigns
Assessments of stakeholders were conducted

15. II. Innovation & Flexibility
Procurement of LRMIS software
Change from decentralized to centralized LRMIS software
Registration of Deeds pilot
GIS pilot
4 companies developed software in parallel and enabled the Project to compare and choose the best solution
Software was continually improved and further enhanced; e.g. switching from decentralized to centralized software now
Pilot of ROD in peri-urban areas to find solutions for the legal system which is different from rural areas
Inclusion of spatial data in LRMIS software successfully piloted – creating interest in Government

16. III. Inclusion of Patwaris
30 workshops with more than 5,000 internal key stakeholders
Capacity building
Data entry for money
Strikes & negotiations
Around 8000 Patwaris needed to be included in the change process
They were consulted and informed in workshops
Capacity in LRMIS software was built to enable them to conduct data entry (scanning etc.) for money
However, strikes occurred as they were afraid to lose too much power etc. but after negotiations that improved their work conditions they calmed down

17. IV. Inclusion of Beneficiaries
>600 community meetings with approximately 50,000 participants
Feedback mechanisms
Questionnaire boxes
Toll free phone line
SMS
 follow-up of accusations of corruption, improved seating arrangements and improved service delivery by adjusting training programs
Training for Service Center staff in service delivery
Consultations and information campaigns
Made part of the process through feedback mechanisms which led to changes
Staff trained to not only conduct the technical steps in the software but also trained in soft skills to treat beneficiaries with respect etc.

18. Conclusion – Success factors
Process to establish the Service Centers and digitize all land records very successful
Lessons learned can be used for similar projects in other provinces of Pakistan and in urban areas of Punjab province
Helpful for similar situations in South Asia and other regions worldwide but need for context-specific adaptation
Process itself was very successful and the century old Patwari system was successfully replaced with a modern, digital land record management system
Others can benefit from the lessons

19. Conclusion – Open questions
Some important land related challenges in Punjab have not yet been resolved
Land distribution
Land markets
Credit accessibility
Women’s land rights
Further measures are required to complement the project’s successes
However, some questions remain as some of the most pressing land related challenges in Punjab remain
Land distribution – can land record management resolve the issue? What about other measures – taxes on unused land etc.?
Land markets – evidence missing – baseline – what are other factors that need to be implemented to ensure that land markets can develop?
Credits: Process of developing the system not linked to other systems (e.g. Banks); need to avoid to work in silos
Women: Being more realistic about limitations about land administration system can influence women’s property rights; women not included in baseline study

20. Thank you