Rs486m goes to waste as land record project falters

PAC flags lapses in Revenue Board scheme, questions closure of digitisation project

KARACHI:

The Sindh Board of Revenue has failed to fully preserve 150-year-old land revenue records of Karachi and Hyderabad despite the passage of two decades and expenditure running into hundreds of millions of rupees, it was revealed in a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday.

The issue came under discussion during a PAC meeting chaired by Committee Chairman Nisar Khuhro, where audit paras for the years 2023 and 2024 were reviewed. The audit raised serious objections over the performance of the Sindh Board of Revenue's record digitisation and preservation project, initiated in 2005 at an estimated cost of Rs486.889 million.

According to audit observations, the project was launched to preserve and digitise historical land revenue records spanning 150 years. However, despite an expenditure of Rs328 million up to 2024, the stated objectives of the scheme could not be achieved. The audit further found that the department had failed to take effective action against the contractor responsible for delays and inefficiencies, while significant funds continued to be spent annually on the salaries of contract employees.

The board informed the committee that the project involved chemical treatment and digitisation of old land records using specialised machinery. It said that records from all 130 taluka offices across Sindh were digitised by 2010, while records from Matiari, Khairpur, and Larkana were preserved. In Karachi and Hyderabad, around 80 per cent of available land records were reportedly digitised and secured.

Officials further stated that out of nearly 10 million pages of land records, around 800,000 pages and 5,000 out of 19,000 maps had been preserved. However, they maintained that a substantial portion of the historical record could not be traced despite efforts made under the scheme.

The board also cited rising costs of chemical treatment, shortage of imported lamination material, and non-increase in staff salaries as reasons for the eventual closure of the scheme in June 2025. It was further informed that Rs100 million was surrendered to the Planning and Development Department after the project was shut down.

PAC members expressed concern over the incomplete execution of the project, questioning why the scheme was closed before achieving its objectives and why accountability measures were not taken against the contractor despite repeated delays.