Islamabad Digitized

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Islamabad is going to be digitized in a big way. To understand how it is going to happen, CAPITAL CALLING has an exclusive interview with Capt (R) Anwarul Haq, the chief commissioner and chairman of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) who is leading this move.

CAPITAL CALLING: There is much talk about digitization of the federal capital. What is the plan and where does it start from?

Capt (R) Anwarul Haq: The plan is not in the air. It is on land and it starts from land. We are going to digitize all land record in the federal capital. At present, it is being kept manually. Where there is human intervention, there are chances of corruption.

CAPITAL CALLING: Digitization did not work in Punjab as it had been supposed to. Land frauds continue there even after digitzation.

Capt (R) Anwarul Haq: Islamabad is a different story. In Punjab, there are problems in demarcation and ownership of plots. Pieces of land are owned by multiple owners and their divide is not symmetrical. In addition, the deputy commissioner’s office is not looking over the digitization process there. Despite all these issues, digitization has cut down the volume of land fraud there.

I do not operate a personal social media account. You will see my photo on social media very rarely and only if it is highly necessary. This is a government office and we are public servants.

This is not the case in Islamabad. Plots have fixed sizes, their demarcation and their status are clear. If a plot is commercial, it is commercial. If it is residential, it is residential.

CAPITAL CALLING: Digitization requires resources and the CDA budget is depleting.

Capt (R) Anwarul Haq: In the PC 1, the cost of the digitization project is determined to be Rs930 million. The lowest bidder will get the project. It will generate resources actually. At present, the land the CDA had acquired at the start is being sold by individuals over and over again because of its manual management. We did not know where our land starts and where it ends. Corruption is rife. Recently, Rs10 billion fraud is determined only in one plot. There are many such cases. When we have land record digitized, we will stop this corruption and resources will be generated. In addition, we will know if the taxes are collected properly and land transfer fee is submitted in the government exchequer. After digitization, we will be able to make better city planning. Digitization has left a positive impact on fee collection in Punjab also despite all the criticism the process has generated.

CAPITAL CALLING: Housing societies transfer land on a piece of paper that has little legal value. Similarly, land transfer in residential sectors is also problematic. Any plan to revamp this process?

Capt (R) Anwarul Haq: Digitization of land record will offer a solution to these problems in a big way. At present, there are a lot of complaints in housing societies. Similarly, the one-window facility at the Capital Development Authority (CDA) is not serving the citizens the way it should be.

CAPITAL CALLING: Other than this, what is the plan for revenue generation?

Capt (R) Anwarul Haq: We are doing auction of parking plazas. At present, JS Bank has made a contract for digitization of parking plazas. They will do it all and then generate resources. There will be no manual fee collection. Stickers were issued to cars for parking. Auction of plots has also been scheduled. In the days to come, you will see that Islamabad is going digital like any other city in the country.

CAPITAL CALLING: Many chief commissioners came and went in this office of the CDA chairman. Some of them made a lot of personal publicity at social media using this office. The programs they launched were not sustainable. How do you think that your project will not be reduced to personal projection?

Capt (R) Anwarul Haq: Those who know me know that I do not believe in personal projection. Neither I do corruption, nor let anyone do it. I have also stopped lavish meals that used to be served in board meetings. Everyone drinks tea there now. Plus, I do not operate a personal social media account. You will see my photo on social media very rarely and only if it is highly necessary. This is a government office and we are public servants.

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