Prospects for the Future

The project is a strong example of systemic land administration reform through technology, but near-constant adjustments are still necessary in a fluid environment. Punjabi officials are currently exploring additional initiatives in order to further leverage system potential. Prevalent proposals include the implementation of evaluation mechanisms, mobile units to increase access to services, and evolution of the project to incorporate GIS mapping and/or urban land record reform.

The project integrated a performance tracking application into its software in 2015. The online dashboard provides details on ARC activity—specifically overdue or deferred cases, service time, staff attendance and productivity, and revenue.¹ The information generated through this tool is now used for two related purposes. Poorly performing individuals and units are penalized, with an official request for an explanation along with disciplinary proceedings. Conversely, the three best-performing units and individuals are issued commendations on a quarterly basis. There is currently a proposal to provide monetary incentives based on monthly performance. This has yet to materialize due to prevailing financial regulations.²

Customers can express feedback through several channels, including questionnaires and phone calls. A closed box for written opinions is available in every land record center. Each ARC customer even receives an SMS after a visit, inviting them to share comments.³

A post-project report confirmed a high degree of customer satisfaction, increased efficiency of land administration, lower service costs, improved perceptions of tenure security, and greater gender equality.

APEX Consulting of Islamabad conducted 65 focus group discussions and over 2,300 interviews within all 36 Punjabi districts following project completion.⁴ This post-project survey concentrated on the impact of LRMIS on various stakeholders as well as on development and government objectives.⁵ The report confirmed a high degree of customer satisfaction, increased efficiency of land administration, lower service costs, improved perceptions of tenure security, and greater gender equality.⁶

Previous efforts notwithstanding, today there is a crucial need to develop a widespread Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) program for improvement and expansion of the digital system. At minimum, the PLRA should continue to have a positive impact on economic development and civic inclusion throughout rural Punjab. Implementation is projected for next year, although the M&E program and its specifics have yet to be officially proposed.⁷

Methods to monitor services at “franchise locations” would help to ensure record accuracy and curtail corruption. Precise data on women accessing land records would aid the government in better planning gender equality initiatives.

The design solution should be refined to concentrate on specific metrics and long-term qualitative data. Methods to monitor services at Bank of Punjab and NADRA “franchise locations” would help to ensure record accuracy and curtail corruption. Precise data on women accessing land records would aid GoPunjab in better planning gender equality initiatives.

It is necessary to ensure satisfactory user experience as the land administration software is customer-facing. Appropriate government responsiveness is critical in confronting rural alienation. The PLRA should continuously examine whether its contracted vendors provided adequate software and services, as such information is the basis of evaluation of vendor performance.

Improving access to land record services remains a PLRA goal.⁸ Despite abundant ARC construction, many landowners still travel long distances for a visit.⁹ Current efforts to abate this drawback include the aforementioned “franchise” effort at NADRA e-kiosks and Bank of Punjab branches. The PLRA aims to include additional functionality for banks by the end of 2018.

The PLRA recently requested funding to incorporate mobile units within its system. Designed to reach isolated localities, the mobile units will be equipped with wireless tablets, allowing for a wide range of remote land administration services.¹⁰ The PLRA completed all necessary preparation for vehicle purchase, but is currently in the midst of a sluggish bureaucratic approval process. The initial request is for nine vehicles to station around major Punjabi cities and towns.¹¹

Successful implementation of the mobile unit initiative will likely improve both the scope and quality of land data. Continued collection of standardized and transparent information can produce better policy planning. In the future, the mobile unit scheme may serve as a catalyst for bureaucratic capacity building and lead to other data-collection field projects.

The capacity to provide crucial government services to tenant farmers generates economic inclusion at a considerably low level of society.

Mobile units can help to ensure the rights of tenant farmers without ownership of deed. Roving officials could record personal information, land parcel data, and crop information into the digital system.¹² The majority of tenant farmers are underprivileged, with little money and few resources; opportunity costs and the real costs of travel to obtain land services are likely serious concerns. Possession of some claim to their plot through remote data collection could greatly increase tenure security and potentially lead to easier access to loans for Punjabi farmers.

The poorest of society are often most vulnerable to exploitation by extremist groups. Recruitment can occur non-ideologically, with many foot soldiers viewing jihad as a job offering financial stability for themselves and their families. Indoctrination follows recruitment in many cases.¹³ The capacity to provide crucial government services to tenant farmers generates economic inclusion at a considerably low level of society. Increased opportunities within the formal sector will ultimately reduce the appeal of militancy.

The project possesses the potential to extend into related areas. The project may: 1) become an increasingly useful tool for financial services; 2) contribute to provincial planning through development of GIS mapping; and, 3) be used as a catalyst for urban land reform and/or digitization in other Pakistani regions.

First, the land administration database is now utilized to determine landowner eligibility for mortgages and loans pertaining to agricultural production.¹⁴ Small farmers often borrow money during cultivation, harvest their crops, and then pay back loans at the end of the cycle. Banks’ access to the digital database has streamlined this common borrowing practice, removing the PLRA as an intermediary and allowing farmers to simply visit a bank. While the Bank of Punjab is the only financial institution with current data access, other banks are pressing to implement the service.¹⁵ More accessible financial services can further boost economic development in the countryside.

Second, the PLRA is exploring the incorporation of GIS mapping into its system. The project previously integrated three mapping pilots in 2015. Information was generated by scanning and vectorizing Patwari maps. The resulting digital versions were more persistent and functional, but were not reliable due to a lack of collected spatial and survey data in Punjab.¹⁶

The scaling of a GIS mapping initiative—requiring institutional and regulatory development and the strengthening of professional capacity—was far beyond the original project scope. The technology is rudimentary within Pakistan due to strict military control and bureaucratic red tape.¹⁷ Issues related to data precision and the potential for subsequent land disputes further discouraged a larger initiative.

Banks’ access to the digital database has streamlined this common borrowing practice, removing the PLRA as an intermediary and allowing farmers to simply visit a bank.

GoPunjab still hopes to incorporate GIS mapping into the new system. Development and inclusion of this data is a long-term PLRA goal, and official deliberation concerning required data collection is ongoing.¹⁸ Secure and centralized land record information, tied to georeferenced maps, could become a valuable resource in regard to security and development efforts in Punjab.

Third, there exists potential for further scalability. The PLRA soon intends to broaden land administration reform to metropolitan areas of the province—many of which contain slums.¹⁹ The dense, complex webs of property ownership in cities such as Lahore, Faisalabad, and Rawalpindi, coupled with a lack of uniform urban land administration, create substantial challenges.

The PLRA asserts that lessons from other countries’ urban land administration systems might lead to the adoption of an existing solution. This tactic would greatly shorten an arduous development phase not dissimilar to the LRMIS project.²⁰ That said, the lessons learned and best practices created during the implementation of the countryside effort could certainly inform an urban land record digitization project in Punjab.

The prospect of expanding the rural project into other Pakistani provinces and territories should also be given consideration following LRMIS success. World Bank Task Team and Punjabi leaders learned from past attempts and created an impressive development and implementation strategy. The framework can be emulated—and adapted—to secure the land rights of Pakistani citizens in the remaining regions. Most provincial governments have recently expressed their willingness to work with the World Bank to digitize land records.²¹ With fast approaching general elections in July, however, no substantial talks or initiatives are currently underway.²²