Post-Project Developments (2017-2018)

Upon project closure in December 2016, 56 million land records were digitized, 5 million records were corrected during digitization, and over 140 ARCs were open throughout all 36 provincial districts.¹ The transition from a disjointed and manual system to a transparent and computerized structure enhanced land administration and greatly increased tenure security. Aside from improved economic opportunities and governance, the comprehensive system can contribute to provincial security.

The overall transformation is stark, to say the least. The Punjab Land Records Authority (PLRA) sustainably provides efficient services and relatively open access to information. Women, in particular, can now reliably assert their rights to inherited land. Recent integration between the PLRA and the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) better connects individuals to their land parcels through biometric data.

The PLRA was established in early 2017 as a permanent successor to the PMU. Duties include the formulation of strategy, policies, and plans for land records management. This political and bureaucratic restructuring of the Punjabi land authority has sustained administrative capacity beyond project completion.

The ARC network is staffed by over 2,000 trained officials and offers services to 20 million rural Punjabi landowners.² A cohort of land and IT professionals increasingly possess functional knowledge of the new system. This growing expertise provides the potential to further improve land administration and responsive governance.

This political and bureaucratic restructuring of the Punjabi land authority has sustained administrative capacity beyond project completion.

Officials noted that the ARCs cumulatively assisted 2.3 million customers in 2016-2017.³ A World Bank report reveals high customer satisfaction due to efficient service delivery and an expected increase in tenure security.⁴ Farmers surely welcome this support from the provincial government. The project is a clear indication that GoPunjab is both responsive to the needs of marginalized citizens and is genuinely addressing political alienation.

Over a year into full operational status, the PLRA reports that record centers are consistently serving large numbers of landowners. Well-established ARCs still help scores of citizens, while newly opened centers attract another, distinctive customer base.⁵

PLRA data indicates a steady rise in the yearly total of land record copies issued from 2015 to 2017.⁶ The total number of mutations has roughly increased by 300,000 every year during the same period.⁷ Due to additional ARC construction and repeated knowledge transfer of the PLRA, it is reasonable to surmise that the volume of both copies issued and recorded transactions will continue to increase over time.

The project is a clear indication that the Government of Punjab is both responsive to the needs of marginalized citizens and is genuinely addressing political alienation.

Increased physical visits to ARCs should result from transparent and accountable access to data.⁸ Details on landholder name and size of holdings within a particular district are publically available within the online land administration database. As a caveat, landowners are not publically connected to their parcels and exact property locations remain private online. This protection hinders encroachment onto the land of Pakistani expatriates. This guarded information can be legally requested in person at an ARC.⁹ A customer requesting another individual’s land records must provide specifics, such as a person’s name, their father’s name, their village, and the corresponding administrative unit.¹⁰

The PLRA is an important instrument for the sustainability of the restructured Punjabi land administration. As a standalone agency, it solidifies new services, making the modern system less susceptible to neglect and becoming outdated. The PLRA can contribute over time to continuous improvements in governance and provide extensive economic opportunities for the rural poor. The agency therefore possesses an ability to offset many of the grievances obliquely contributing to extremism in Punjab.

Perhaps most strikingly, project success was an important step for gender equality within rural Punjabi society. Poor rural women are major contributors to agricultural production but often work in harsh conditions, earn poor wages, and are subject to sexual harassment.¹¹ Women complete the majority of field preparation; they perform most duties pertaining to fruits and vegetables; they help during harvest if labor is short. Women prepare meals, provide childcare, secure potable water, collect fuelwood, and manage livestock.

Despite these many responsibilities, a recent report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization noted that Punjabi women’s farm work is usually ignored by men and is not counted as economic activity.¹² Female contributions in agriculture are unrecognized, unpaid, and underrated.

Women previously lacked reliable access to land services, agricultural information, and microcredit. They were customarily deprived of land inheritance. Only seven percent of Punjabi women owned land as late as 2015.¹³

Punjabi women’s farm work is usually ignored by men and is not counted as economic activity. Female contributions in agriculture are unrecognized, unpaid, and underrated.

The project deconstructed this patriarchal structure within land administration. Every ARC contains separate seating for women. There is a designated service counter for female customers, staffed by female officials.¹⁴ Surveys indicate that women generally believe they now have reliable access to land record services in a safe and non-corrupt environment.¹⁵ They no longer confront issues of intimidation.¹⁶

The provincial government even announced legislation in March 2012 to ensure the right of land inheritance for women.¹⁷ Through property ownership, women better possess opportunities to achieve financial independence, join the formal sector of the economy, and bolster their social status.

Based on surveys, there is a general belief that women’s tenure security will improve over time. Metrics indicate that over 267,000 women had utilized digital land record services by mid-2017.¹⁸ Women were even represented in 35 percent of transaction cases due to inheritance. This percentage is only expected to rise.¹⁹

Through property ownership, women better possess opportunities to achieve financial independence, join the formal sector of the economy, and bolster their social status.

For the first time in decades, a formal structure exists that allows rural women to assert their rights to land inheritance. Systemic land administration reform helped to bridge the gender gap in Punjab. Through “Female Dissemination Workshops” especially, women are increasingly aware that they possess a legal right to land inheritance and ownership.²⁰ While women continue to suffer from discrimination and inequality throughout Pakistan, the project conspicuously confronted sexism within the country’s most populous province.

Disconnect within records between landowner identity and their parcels is a prevalent issue in the developing world. To address this problem, the LRMIS project first partnered with NADRA in 2012. Linkage between digital land records and the NADRA citizens database efficiently connected individuals to their land.²¹ The project introduced biometric-based authentication, via NADRA’s National Identity Card (NIC) system, in 2015.²²

The NIC system was established nationwide in 2000 and assigns a unique 13-digit number to every citizen at birth.²³ Upon reaching the age of 18, all citizens are eligible to receive a machine-readable card containing fingerprint and facial biometric data.²⁴ While not mandatory, the recently introduced Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) is the first requirement for obtaining a driver’s license, National Tax Number, bank account, and passport.²⁵ A CNIC is now necessary for ARC services.²⁶

The PLRA expanded integration with NADRA in 2018 to improve services in the new land administration system. The federal identification agency recently provided data on next of kin, further strengthening women’s assertions to inherited land rights.²⁷ Today, provincial citizens can utilize their CNIC, authenticate Personally Identifiable Information via the NADRA database, and quickly access land registry services.

Punjabi officials also recently initiated a “franchising project.” Through collaboration with NADRA and the Bank of Punjab, the PLRA plans to provide its services at partner locations throughout the province. This expansion will drastically increase access to digital services, as the Bank of Punjab operates 400 branches throughout the territory, while NADRA manages 3,700 e-kiosk platforms in Punjab.²⁸

Linkage between digital land records and the NADRA citizens database efficiently connected individuals to their land.

There is considerable potential to alleviate stress on both human and technological resources through this initiative. If the PLRA can outsource land record issuance tasks, it will eliminate approximately 70 percent of its current workload. This can allow officials to concentrate on new projects, such as the introduction of mobile units, GIS mapping, or urban land reform.²⁹

Specific data regarding record issuance at these franchise locations has yet to be collected, but the partnership can be incredibly beneficial. It offers convenience, scalability, and increased data access, and provides the PLRA with an opportunity to include more citizens within its new structure.

More transparent and certifiable data bolsters tenure security for the average farmer as well. These property rights provide small landowners with the ability to acquire loans and invest in agricultural production. Greater access to both capital and markets can help reduce inequality and bolster socioeconomic development. Extremist promises of influence, prestige, and financial rewards will begin to appear less attractive.³⁰