ISLAMABAD: Despite the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s commitment to rooting out the infamous patwari system, it seems the federal government’s real estate entity is not interested in digitising land records and making the land acquisition process more transparent and is still using a 19th century law for this purpose.

One of the primary prongs of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s accountability campaign has been the elimination of land mafias and the patwari system, which in his view, perpetuates a culture of corruption.

But rather than leading by example, the body responsible for providing housing to government officials, is still acquiring land through patwaris, under the criteria laid down in the Land Acquisition Act of 1894.

According to a former official of the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA), the body is not interested in the computerisation of its processes or digitisation of records as the manual processes benefit certain vested interests.

Officials allege vested interests at play; FGEHA DG says no suitable firm found to handle digitisation work

However, FGEHA Director General Tariq Rashid told Dawn that the authority was committed to the digitisation of land records and claimed that a ‘Request for Proposals’ had been issued for the purpose, but they had not been able to find a suitable firm to execute the project.

On the surface, it appears to be a contradiction in government policy.

In September 2021, PM Khan attended the launch of a digitalised land record system and cadastral map for Islamabad. There, he said that a digitalised land record system would not only eliminate land mafia but also control illegal and haphazard constructions in both urban and rural areas.

When contacted, both Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Digital Media Dr Arslan Khalid and head of the Digital Media Wing Imran Ghazali said that they were unaware of the matter since it was not within their purview.

However, Dr Khalid agreed that the government had introduced the Digital Pakistan Policy and the digitisation of land records was an integral part of it. He said that all ministries and divisions had been asked to digitise their operations in order to maintain transparency, adding that he would highlight the issue of non-digitalisation of FGEHA land acquisition processes at the proper forum.

Pending litigation

The Federal Government Employees Housing Authority was first established in 1989 and subsequently given its current status through a presidential ordinance.

According to the authority’s official website, it has a mandate to initiate, launch, sponsor and implement housing schemes for government employees to ensure, as far as possible, that each of them have a house at the time of retirement or earlier. It provides housing for members of the bureaucracy, judiciary, lawyers and journalists, among others.

However, the land acquisition and allotment system in vogue at the authority has not been upgraded to date, which is evident from litigation related to the development of sectors F-14 and F-15, pending before the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

On Aug 17, 2021, the FGEHA allotted 4,723 plots in sectors F-14 and F-15 to federal government officials ranging from grade 16 to 22, including judges of the superior and subordinate judiciary, as well as lawyers and other notable functionaries.

However, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah had struck down the balloting after scores of affected villagers petitioned against the land acquisition and Aug 17 balloting, along with serving and retired government employees.

According to a serving FGEHA official, who spoke to Dawn on condition of anonymity, the vast majority of litigation the authority is embroiled in was down due to the lack of transparency in the handling of the core operations of the authority, of which land acquisition and allotment are a major part.

Vested interests

Former FGEHA IT director Najam Alvi, who recently parted ways with the authority, told Dawn that during his stint, he had prepared a number of proposals to upgrade the system in order to ensure transparency and minimise human interference in the core operations of the housing authority.

The IT section of FGEHA was set up in 2000 to create and maintain the database of properties, and was formally upgraded in 2020.

According to Mr Alvi, while he was serving at FGEHA, the IT section consisted of seven to eight employees, including two deputy directors, assistant directors and clerks.

“I proposed the restructuring of the department with at least 30 experienced staff to computerise core operations, develop infrastructure and create a data centre for cyber security, but my superiors did not pay any heed to these proposals,” he said, explaining the reasons for his departure.

However, the FGEHA director general explained Mr Alvi’s departure in different terms, saying that since he hailed from the corporate sector, he could not adjust himself in the government sector.

The senior FGEHA official also echoed Mr Alvi’s concerns. The official said the IT department had been kept “dormant” as this served the vested interests of certain officials, adding that manual handling of land acquisition, development and other operations made it easier to manipulate the process.

However, according to FGEHA’s IT Deputy Director Asim Ameer, his department had maintained a database of all members since the authority’s inception. He conceded that while land was still being acquired and evaluated through the decades-old patwari system, he hoped that recent initiatives for automation would bear fruit and the old methodology would gradually be abandoned.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2022