BM Desk:

Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury said that efficient, transparent, and accountable land management plays an important role in the economic growth of the country.

He said this while speaking as the chief guest at a two-day workshop on ‘Integrated and Comprehensive Land Administration in Bangladesh’ organized by the Ministry of Land, the Ministry of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs, and the World Bank at a hotel in Dhaka on Monday.

The land minister said “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 plays an important role in progress in both the macro and macro economics.”

Saifuzzaman Chowdhury expressed hope that if the land registration under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs is completed quickly, it will be interconnected with the mutation under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Land nationwide.

At the same time, when the Bangladesh digital survey is completed nationwide, there will be no need to go to the field, and our aim is to let the buyer know the history of land ownership changes online before buying land.

The minister also said, “We are also dreaming of setting up a system where land development tax is determined automatically after the buyer registers digitally at the time of purchase of land, land development tax is automatically generated, and at the same time, Khatian and Mauzamap are also prepared on a single owner basis.”

“We are working on setting up a system so that people can complete all legal procedures for changing land ownership without going to the land office,” added the minister.

The Land Secretary 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 the Ministry of Lands, Zahid Hossain Panir, and Lead Land Administration Specialist of the World Bank Mika-Petri Torhonen, Senior Land Administration Specialist of the World Bank, Dong Qi Kwak, and others were among the expert negotiators on the first day of the workshop.