MUZAFFARABAD (Kashmir English): The government of Azad Kashmir has established 13 digital land record centres to computerise over 1,100 villages’ records, issuing more than 130,000 documents and securing property data, while calls are being made to expand the system and resist efforts to revert to manual records.
Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), established 13 digital land record centres which serve as an important milestone for property management system modernization. These centres have achieved digital record success for more than 1,100 localities as they provide uninterrupted public service access. More than 140,000 landowners now have their property records digitized as the system has issued over 1,300,000 ownership document copies to citizens.
This program provides both transparency and operational efficiency to land administration through simplified records management which eliminates outdated manual processes that traditionally led to corruption and inefficiency. The service fee collection resulted in funds being transferred to government tax proceeds which strengthens the financial foundation of the project.
The successful completion of digitisation operations met resistance from people with private interests. Apart from public servants some corrupt interlopers plan to restore land records to the outdated patwari system despite its history of fostering fraudulent practices and inefficiencies. Several forces function to stop the digital transformation by launching strategies that harm both the digital record system’s credibility and performance capabilities.
The Prime Minister has received calls from stakeholders to carry out the initiative across all uninitiated tehsils while creating a Land Record Authority based on the Punjab model. With a unified land record system owners will obtain enhanced oversight while their rights receive better protection and their property needs no intermediaries for hassle-free service.
The digitalization of land records both protects property ownership and prevents corrupt practices by stopping possible acts of forgery as well as unlawful transfers. A complete computer system of land records would provide both rights protection and better governance trust while enabling direct access to records without external representatives.
The public hopes that government agencies will make essential decisions to protect and grow the digital land record system which will lead Azad Kashmir toward a modernized secure and transparent land management system.
