No visible progress has been made so far in reviving the halted project for digitising the country's land registration system even after eight years of launching it, officials said.
The government took the project in 2010, so that the people can get rid of the corruption-ridden service delivery system in land registration process.
But the progress of the project got halted in 2015 despite completion of software development, a major task of its automation.
Later, the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs wanted to start it anew, which is yet to see any light.
The present situation has created doubt among the service recipients and the anti-graft activists about willingness of the public service provider to ensure transparency in land registration.
They said the delay in digitising the country's manually-managed deed registration system will continue to provide scopes for bribery and other forms of corruption.
Completing the digitisation process is important also for the fact that land registration is the government's second largest revenue source after the National Board of Revenue (NBR), they added.
When contacted, Inspector General of Registration (IGR) Khan Md. Abdul Mannan said the ministry concerned is dealing the matter.
"I don't know much about the progress (of the project). One thing I can say that it (the digitisation) will happen. But people have to wait."
About the developments before the project revival plan, he said the Directorate of Registration (DGR) started implementing its piloting from 2012 with its own funds.
DGR did it to get the required government funds before replication of the system across the country.
"But we did not get the required funds, amounting to around Tk 2.0 billion, even after our repeated requests."
"As the government did not provide the funds for complete implementation of the project, we've taken the fresh move for digitising the country's land-registration system," he added.
The government, as a part of its nationwide digitisation plan, took the move for automation of four land registry offices and record rooms in the country under the piloting in 2012.
The prime objectives of the digitisation programme were to make the citizens free from hassles and harassment by removing irregularities in the land registration process as well as modernising and simplifying the service delivery system.
A section of officials and experts, meanwhile, blamed the interest of a vested quarter in the service providing chain as the key reason behind the delay in land registration digitisation.
They also opined that fear of losing extra earnings and jobs by a section of people, involved with the century-old land registration system, is another factor behind the delay.
Seeking anonymity, a senior official involved with the project from the beginning expressed his frustration over the slow progress of the project.
He said fund shortage should not be cited as a problem for a public-entity like DGR, which collects billions of taka as revenue in each financial year.
"The total cost of the project covering the whole country was around Tk 1.93 billion, and the amount can be met with DGR's earnings of just a few days."
He further said a local consortium of three IT (information technology) firms was awarded the responsibility of developing necessary software for automation under the project.
The consortium of Business Automation Ltd, DataSoft Systems Bangladesh Ltd and Info Consult Ltd developed the software keeping all the requirements into the consideration.
Instead of buying hardware to use the software, the ministry concerned halted the entire process, and invited tender afresh, he added.
When contacted, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Anisul Huq said; "We are now evaluating the proposals of the tender bidders in line with the PPR (Public Procurement Rules)."
"It'll be done as fast as we can because it's a very important project, which was taken to further minimise the scopes of possible irregularities in the country's deed-registration system," he added.
Former chairman of Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Ghulam Rahman termed the land registration offices across the country as corruption-affected service delivery points.
He said the delay in launching a full-fledged IT-based service delivery system will keep the windows open for continued bribery, other forms of corruption and harassment of the service recipients.
"It is unexpected. The agency concerned should realise the fact. Successful implementation of the project will reduce the scopes of unethical practices in land registration to a great extent," he noted.
