Documente Academic
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Bangladesh
Submitted to Submitted by
S M Shahidul Islam Md. Hasanul Momin Shawon
Lecturer, Department Of Law Reg no: LLB2018000689
Exim Bank Agricultural Batch: 13th Department Of Law
University Bangladesh Exim Bank Agricultural
University Bangladesh
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INDEX
CONTENTS PAGE NO
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Land administration in Bangladesh
Abstract
Land is the main historical basis of Bangladesh. Bangladesh has been
attracted lots of races and nations from various continents at different
times because of its resourceful land and administered by them one by
one. The land system (administration, revenue, ownership, survey etc.)
has also been changed with the change of such administration. This
study aims to analyze the chronological changes of land administrative
management systems in Bangladesh. All the historical records were
considered as the study materials and different dynastical periods since
1500 BC to present independent Bangladesh as the study area.
Relevant information has been sought extensively from different
historical books, thesis, journals, articles, reports and newspapers. After
analyzing historical records eight major administrative regimes were
found i.e. before the Aryans, the Aryans, the Hindu, the Muslim, the
East India Company, the British, the Pakistan and the Bangladesh. There
was no scarcity of land before the Aryans period but later it became
limited due to high population growth and required administrative
management. Land administration basically started at the time of
Aryans in terms of Hindu period and turned into a quite matured
condition during Muslim period. In addition, private ownership of land
was aroused in British Colonial period. Although the ownership,
revenue systems, power of transfer and rules on land had been
travelled a long journey since Aryans to independent Bangladesh. But,
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for the first time the Bengalee nation had gained their administrative
power on their own land in 1971, after the independence. 1
What Is Land?
Land, in the business sense, can refer to real estate or property, minus
buildings, and equipment, which is designated by fixed spatial
boundaries. Land ownership might offer the titleholder the right to any
natural resources that exist within the boundaries of their land.
Traditional economics says that land is a factor of production, along
with capital and labor. The sale of land results in a capital gain or loss.
Under Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax laws, land is not a depreciable
asset and qualifies as a fixed asset instead of a current asset.
In Terms of Production:
In Economics:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331987468_Historical_Evolution_of_Land_Administration_in_Banglad
esh
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possible without it. Therefore, we may consider land as a resource with
no cost of production. Despite the fact that people can always change
the land use to be less or more profitable, we cannot increase its
supply.2
1) Land management,
2
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/land.asp
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Land Management
The Present Land Management in Bangladesh can be discussed
National level
The Land Reforms Board was set up at the national level under the Land
Reforms Board Act 1989 consisting of a chairman and two other
members. The board may perform such functions and discharge such
duties in respect of land reforms and land management as the
government may entrust to it. The board may also exercise such
powers and perform such duties as may be entrusted to it by or under
any law. The primary function of the board is to supervise the
functioning of the field offices and the implementation of land reforms
measures. Moreover, Plans for matters relating to land management,
their implementation and supervision, and matters relating to boards
establishment, record room and library are some of the functions,
entrusted by the Ministry of Land to the Land Reforms Board
Land Survey
The land survey (jareef) process is referred to as land settlement and is
administered by the Directorate of Land Records and Surveys (DLRS).
Organizational hierarchy and functions of land survey administration in
Bangladesh is given below-
The director general, Land Records and Surveys, with the assistance of
a number of directors, deputy directors, assistant directors, settlement
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officers, assistant settlement officers and a large number of trained and
technical staff, gets the maps and records prepared and revised under
the provisions of the State acquisition and tenancy act, 1950, and hands
them over to the collectors (deputy commissioners). The collectors
maintain them and keep them corrected by incorporating the changes
due to transfer, inheritance or otherwise . The DLRS is entrusted with
the responsibility of carrying out cadastral surveys and preparation of
record of rights (ROR).
ROR/Khatiyan consists of –
ii) A khatian indicating ownership, area and character of land. The DLRS
undertakes periodic surveys to update records of land ownership and
use. Zonal settlement offices and Upazila settlement offices work under
this directorate. A survey team consisting of two Surveyors and one
Chainman conduct the survey operation. The steps of hearing
objections and appeal are done by Sub-Assistant Settlement Officer
(SASO) and Assistant Settlement Officer (ASO) respectively. It is noted
that DLRS does not correct position/possession and documents but
only does prepare new map and records accordingly.
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When any deed is registered in Registration office, Land Transfer (LT)
notice is to be sent to the Office of Assistant Commissioner’s (AC, Land)
Office. Organizational hierarchy of land transfer registration in
Bangladesh is
c) Sub-Registrar’s Office
3
http://www.lawjournals.org/download/101/3-1-39-601.pdf
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pursued by computerized LIS. This system would serve unified services
related to land management by
marginal labor, time and money. Use of LIS for recording and
maintaining the original volume of land records could minimize the
chances of tampering of records. If any change in the ownership is
updated in real time through the computer-based system, agencies can
manage the ownership ledgers in a unified fashion and allow anyone to
check the current ownership information any time they want. Once an
accurate geodetic framework and cadastral system has been
developed, many analysis of land-tenure change could be performed
with the assurance of high degree of measurement accuracy. This will
help arrive at compatible multiple land uses within selected parcel of
land. However, development of an integrated LIS is not an easy task
and it will require a fairly longer time, say 5-10 years. LIS is a bifurcation
of GIS, which is most often based on the ownership, management and
analysis of portion of the earth. LIS application combines both
traditional survey methods and Global Positioning System (GPS), a
sophisticated satellite system for acquiring the local information on
land (Demers, 1999). The Cadastral Survey (CS) and Mapping
methodology based on ground survey or aerial survey supplemented by
ground survey is to be adopted. Completion of these operations would
provide digital mauza maps. Using Satellite navigation systems or GPS,
surveyors collect field data using portable backpack or hand-held
devices. In this process, they use signals from GPS satellites to work out
the exact location on the earth’s surface. Most GPS receivers store
collected co-ordinates and associated attribute information in their
internal memory, so they can be downloaded directly into a GIS
database (Heywood, et. al. 2002). LIS could introduce a unified cadastre
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that is a broader concept to incorporate information related to
positioning of land, land size and orientation, land ownership, land use
etc. This is a large scale, community oriented land information system
to serve both public and private organizations concerned to land
administration and management, land development and service
provision. Despite the huge installation and recurring cost of new
technologies, once the land record is completely computerized, various
space-specific parameters could be hooked-up to the land record
(Nahrin and Rahman, 2009). The same record could be utilized for
various purposes such as taxation, subdivision planning and other tasks
in urban, rural and regional level. For this purpose, demand responsive
step-by-step approach within a timeframe would bring the effective
results for land administration and management through LIS.
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mobile services. The focal institution for integrated land management
should be the Department of Land Records and Surveys (DLRS).
Through these services, related agencies such as the AC (Land) Office,
the Settlement Office and Sub-Registrar can update their databases by
linking with the newly generated data in real time and thereby handle
all land-related tasks including taxes, documentation and statistical
information as well as khatian. The agencies can also eliminate the
time-consuming job of sending and receiving copies of documents
among themselves and instead view up-to-date khatian records. People
who need land ownership-related documents can view or receive
khatian through a one-stop service (a single point) provided by DLRS
without visiting other offices. By establishing a countrywide network for
land records, people
can view information and get all khatian documents anytime and
anywhere from e-Service Centers. The system, if developed properly,
should have the provision of notifications of ownership change and tax-
related information in real time. While this integrated land
management system appears to provide a hassle-free service to some
extent, this cannot be done without having a well-developed LIS.
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a) The land administration system in Bangladesh is grossly mismanaged
as being based on age-old or traditional regulations. Most of the
regulations were enacted during the British period. The outdated
regulations rely mostly on land officers, revenue collectors and
surveyors which paved the way for corruptions.
from Registrar’s office and yet another from the Settlement office, and
if there happens to be a difference, which is obvious, then how a judge
is to adjudicate the dispute? This multiplicity of documents or records
of rights is the central flaw in the system of land administration.
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recording time. Under the prevailing legal system, khatians along with
deeds and mutation documents are relevant for ownership decisions by
a civil court. The lengthy and complex process of ownership
determination enhances conflicts.
changes. For preserving land records digitally, the current system may
be effective, however, for maintaining up-todate record keeping in an
integrated manner, a broader land information system (LIS) needs to be
developed. Without having an integrated digital record system with a
central server, lack of coordination and inefficiencies in managing and
maintaining land record keeping will prevail Besides, some officials and
employees suffer from enthusiasm and are reluctant to provide
digitalized services as they would reduce their scope to indulge in
corruption and anomalies.
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g) Inadequate and improper land registrations increase difficulties in
securing land tenure and land transfer in Bangladesh, as deed system
does not provide the final proof
survey records are available at AC Land and Tahsil Office, applicants are
required to submit duplicate or certified copies all records. Submission
of these documents requires mutation applicant additional time, visits
and cost in going to different offices to collect them.
i) The National Land Revenue Board has not been doing the proper
mutation work in due time. As a result, dual ownership is often created.
Besides, the Board never
properly identified khas land, khas water bodies, khas ponds, enemy
property, abandoned property as well as unused land under different
government offices. Consequently, land grabbers have occupied these
lands. The existing land ceiling has not been properly enforced.
land. Allegations are rampant that receiving large amounts of bribe the
staffs of Land Record Directorate tamper with the documents in
different ways in order to create false ownership.
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k) Land-grabbing of both rural and urban land by domestic actors is a
problem in Bangladesh. Wealthy and influential people have
encroached on public lands with false documents and obtained court
decrees to confirm their ownership, often with help of officials in land
administration and management departments.
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survey conduction.Moreover, officials and employees need training to
provide digital land services
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believed to have increased land disputes in the country.4
Recommended Solutions
There are various long-term and short-term solutions to makethe land
administration and management system effective and pro people as
followa) An IT-based solution could be optimal to handle uncoordinated
and disaggregated executive process of land administration. Land
administration and management, land use control, provision of utility
services and other services
4
Corruption and Land Administration, Paul van der Molen
and Arbind Man Tuladhar, International Federation of
Surveyors, Article of the Month, 2007, pp. 1-17.
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be given land ownership certificate, which can help detecting fabricated
documents and preventing multiplicity of suits [22]
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f) Total amount of khas land of different types should be identified and
published by the government in the media. Illegally occupied khas land
should be released and brought
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corruption and increase small holder security. Enhancing poor people’s
right to land is likely to require a range of interventions to strengthen
their own voice.
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4. Preparation of khash land inventory,
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and users to examine the needs for information and to coordinate land
information management activities and projects. 5
Conclusion
Most of the Bangladeshis are predominantly dependent on land for
their daily living. Proper management of land can protect the interests
of the bona fide cultivators and make their lives happier and healthier.
To this end in view, the importance of reshuffling and introducing
reform in the land management and land administration by making
amendment to this existing laws or enacting laws where necessary
cannot be exaggerated.The following suggestions can be tried to fix the
weakness remaining in the existing land laws and land administration:
5
Corruption and Land Administration, Paul van der Molen
and Arbind Man Tuladhar, International Federation of
Surveyors, Article of the Month, 2007, pp. 1-17.
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and its mutation The Revenue Officer can be given power to dispose of
suits relating to partition, possession, demarcation of boundary,
authenticity of the deed, pre-emption etc. so that the litigants can save
their time and money and can thus help taking the burden of the Civil
Courts off.6
6. Like the taxation cadre, the A C (Land) cadre in the Bangladesh Civil
Service can be confined to land issues freeing the Assistant
Commissioners fromperformingother duties. They can be equipped
with proper training and logistics so that they can handle the land
administraticm efficiently.
9. Legislation can be enacted for ensuring proper plan and use of land
so that agricultural land cannot be used for non-agricultural purposes
or vice versa.
10. Laws can be amended squeezing the scope of exercising the right of
pre-emption e.g. the owner of the contiguous land can be removed
6
Ibid. pp 254-255.
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from the list of persons capable of exercising the right of pre-emption
or the provision for time limit for exercising the right of pre-emption
can be specifically mentioned so that time lirrvit starts from the datt: of
transfer, not frorn the date of registration.7
7
Ibid. pp 269-270.
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