KARACHI: Sindh’s Board of Revenue has decided to introduce smart cards – linked to personal identifications like Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) number, fingerprints and the cardholder’s photograph – to facilitate in acquiring bank loans.
Banks will also be given the provision of direct verification of these revenue cards. An official said the board’s first priority is to bring reforms and to computerise lands record in view of a directive of the Supreme Court.
In compliance with the order, the board has computerised almost 95% record of Sindh’s rural and urban lands in possession of some 9 million owners. This record can be viewed on the Board of Revenue’s website.
An official said around 13,000 people have already utilised this service in the past six months. This computerised record is also available to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Anti-Corruption Department, Forestry Department and other federal and provincial institutions.
The board has also carried out a detailed survey of the 625,000 acres of land in Karachi through the latest satellite technology. The maps drafted on the basis of this survey have been provided to all the deputy commissioners in Karachi.
An official said the lower staff at the board is reluctant to use these maps as these exceedingly accurate maps, based on geo-coordinates, leave no room for change in facts and details.
Due to these steps, the Board of Revenue expects to curb alteration in land record and to protect billion of rupees worth public land from encroachers and land mafia.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 3rd, 2016.
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