Land Minister Narayon Chandra Chanda said on Saturday that land development tax can be collected from July 1 to June 30 every year synchronizing with the fiscal year. He made the remark while inaugurating the Land Service Week, 2024 as chief guest at the BIAM Foundation Auditorium in the capital.
Land Secretary Khalilur Rahman presided over the meeting while Chairman of Land Appeal Board AKM Shamimul Haque Siddique, Chairman of Land Reform Board Abdus Sabur Mondal, Director General of Land Record and Survey Department Anis Mahmud, Dhaka Divisional Commissioner Sabirul Islam and Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Anisur Rahman, spoke among others. The Land Service Week 2024, which was inaugurated on Saturday, will continue till June 14.
Narayon Chandra Chanda said that in the past land development tax was paid from Pahela Baishakh (April 14) to 30 Chaitra (April 13) of the Bangla year. We think that the change in the tax collection period will make the land development tax collection process more balanced, transparent and effective.
"I firmly believe that this new system will strengthen the land revenue collection system of our country and bring dynamism in revenue collection," he added.
He r said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has set the goal to develop Smart Bangladesh. Under her guidance, the Ministry of Land is moving forward with a smart action plan of land management to ensure the best use of land and land-related people-friendly services in the country.
The land minister said various initiatives of the land ministry, including digitisation of land services, are playing an important role directly and indirectly in ensuring womens rights, increasing food security, protecting the environment and combating the effects of climate change.
In addition, these initiatives have played a pioneering role in raising awareness about the land-related rights of the citizens of the country. If people get their land rights, they will become confident and aware. This will help improve their quality of life, he added.
Narayon Chanda said there are more than 64 million online land ownership information. Bangladesh Postal Department has so far delivered more than eight lakh Records of Rights (ROR/Khatian) to the citizens address through the postal service. There are arrangements to send attested copies of ROR and Mouza Map to the citizens of 192 countries by dialing 09612316122 directly from abroad or applying directly through the Land Service Portal land.gov.bd or E-Khatian mobile app.
As soon as the land is mutated from a khatian, arrangements are being made to display a series of new ledgers created from the main ledger through artificial intelligence and machine learning, he said.
He said that a plan has been adopted to establish smart land services by 2041. There will be no plot (Dag) sharing in any record (Khatiyan), there will be no land-related lawsuits or litigations, boundary disputes will be almost zero, citizens will not need to visit the land office unless absolutely necessary, and all land information of a citizen will be accessible using their National ID (NID). Moreover, upon purchasing land, a Certificate of Land Ownership (CLO) will be immediately available. In areas where a digital survey has been completed, there will be no need for survey in future.
