Corruption in land administration not only affects citizens but it also thwarts a country’s development by crippling its land market. Moreover, inaccuracies and discrepancies in land-related documents result in lengthy land disputes and costly litigation. In this ongoing study, we are trying to find implementable solutions to these problems that involve the support of some powerful entities engaged in land administration.
Researchers: Faruq Hossain; Nasiruddin Ahmed, PhD; and Mehnaz Rabbani
Timeline: 2019–2021
Status: Discontinued
Contact: Mehnaz Rabbani; mehnaz.rabbanib@bracu.ac.bd
Context
The land administration system in Bangladesh is riddled with complexity and diluted with fraudulence. To make the system simpler and easier, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) is gradually moving towards a fully digitised land management system. As the first step towards this ambition, the government has introduced e-mutation—a public service through which citizens can apply for land mutation online. Nevertheless, digitisation, while solving some of the administrative problems, can also create new challenges. For instance, if illegal possessions, fake documents, and records with discrepancies once get digitised and formalised, correcting errors in the future will be near impossible. It is, therefore, important to understand the functions of various mechanisms behind land administration and what digitisation will mean for citizens.
Objectives
Based on the evidence of various bottlenecks in land management, our objective is to find some implementable solutions to improve land markets for citizens.
Methodology
Using the political settlement approach for analysis, the study uses both quantitative and qualitative methods.
