Patwar system set to revive from March 3.

Byline: Waseem Ashraf Butt

GUJRAT -- The Punjab government is all set to revive the patwar system at the revenue estate level from March 3 for which two qanoongo areas in each of the nine divisions of the province have been selected where `computer-literate' patwaris will provide services currently being extended by the Arazi Record Centers (ARCs) at tehsil level.

The divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners have been issued fresh directions by the Board of Revenue (BoR) to identify government buildings and make necessary arrangements for the provision of essential equipment, including laptops, printers, scanners and internet facilities for the purpose.

A letter issued to the divisional commissioners by the BoR on Tuesday said the aforementioned services at the revenue estates of the selected qanoongos must be ensured by March 3, whereas the BoR and Punjab Land Record Authority (PLRA) will subsequently provide requisite paraphernalia/equipment under a development scheme.

The BoR letter says teams from the board will visit these centres to observe their functioning.

Last month, the BoR had directed the commissioners to select at least two qanoongo areas in as many tehsils of their respective divisions for launching computerised services at revenue estate level where patwaris will offer the services instead of the service center officials (SCOs), also known as digital patwaris who have been delivering the services at the ARC level.

The Punjab government has also decided to reopen the patwar schools at the divisional level whereas the lone patwar school in Lahore has been lying dysfunctional for the last almost 15 years. Initially, a new patwar school will be launched in a selected division as a pilot project which will be extended to every division where revised patwar courses, including computer training, will also be given.

On an experimental basis, the authorities have decided to utilise the existing lot of patwaris who are already computer literate and well educated and later on new recruitment may also be made, says an official privy to these developments.

Punjab Revenue Minister Malik Anwar told Dawn that it was not the revival of old era of patwaris as the existing system of ARCs and PLRA was actually being upgraded. He said the impression that Punjab was reverting to the manual land record system was totally wrong.

'We are going to introduce reforms in the existing system of land record services by involving computer literate...