Rawalpindi: Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar recently directed the authorities concerned to implement the new revenue policy for the province; under which its Land Record Centres and patwarkhanas would be primed to operate from the same office locations, a news source reported on August 19. Furthermore, each division would operate a patwarkhana at the kanungoi level under the revised arrangement.
The new revenue policy was proposed by Revenue Parliamentary Secretary Adnan Chaudhary. As per the new policy, patwaris will also be provided with an assistant to help with official work, while personal domestic help staff and helper facilities will be withdrawn. The policy has also devised a mechanism for the up-gradation of revenue officers (patwaris).
Under the new policy, the land record centres will primarily be responsible for the computerization of land records. All revenue officers and field staff will be provided with basic training in the use of computers, for which the government is expected to offer refresher courses and set up dedicated patwari schools. In addition, the Revenue Department will also hire new patwaris and issue laptops to kanungo officials.
Furthermore, the department will deploy teams to check the performance of the proposed Land Record Centres. The government has also decided to keep a track of land records from the last 20 years, instead of the previous provision of 50 years.
Speaking to the media, the parliamentary secretary stated that the issuance of the official notification to implement the new revenue policy was expected later this month. He also expressed his hope that the revolutionary changes to be implemented under the new policy will help the provincial government generate annual revenues worth billions of rupees.
