Dhaka: Senior Secretary of the Land Ministry ASM Saleh Ahmed today announced that the implementation of ‘Smart Land Service’ is streamlining the services of land administration in Bangladesh, moving away from historical complexities, bureaucratic harassment, and the dominance of middleman rings. ‘Land is the fundamental basis of human existence and an essential component of human life,’ he stated during a seminar titled ‘Role of Media in People-Friendly Land Services’ held at the media centre of the Bangladesh Secretariat in the city, as noted in a press release.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the seminar, which focused on the progress of Smart Land Services, was organized by the Automated Land Administration and Management System (ALAMS) with the collaboration of the Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum (BSRF). Saleh Ahmed emphasized that human life, economy, culture, and society have developed around land since ancient times, as people rely on it for food production, livelihood, housing, and industrialization.
He highlighted that land administration is a critical sector for Bangladesh’s progress, historically fraught with complexity, time wastage, and the unchecked influence of broker circles. Additionally, he pointed out that high levels of harassment at land offices have led to numerous complaints. A significant issue remains survey-centric disputes, which account for nearly 80 percent of land-related lawsuits.
The Senior Secretary also mentioned that while land registration is not solely the Land Ministry’s responsibility, citizens still hold the Ministry accountable for related problems. To mitigate office-based harassment, the ministry developed a strategy to ensure services could be accessed from home. He explained that digital land service is being framed not merely as the adoption of technology, but as a revolutionary transformation of citizen services, ensuring transparency and accountability within the land administration while simultaneously saving citizens’ time and effort.
Saleh Ahmed recognized that although the ministry has accomplished significant work, there is still much further to go. However, the digital systems have already led to positive changes, such as in the management of sand quarries, which previously suffered from chaos. He noted that this area is now controlled through a single branch, and while full discipline has not been restored, the disorder has substantially decreased.