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Tk 3418 crore loss in land revenue for corruption

UNB, Dhaka
The government lost Tk 3417.60 crore in land revenue in last three decades due to alleged widespread corruption and irregularities at the 64 ADC (Revenue) offices across the country*.
The startling figure was revealed in a book titled ‘Bangladesh Dark Facets of Land Rights & Management with Directions to Agrarian Reform' written by Proshanta K Roy. a deputy* secretary' to the government.
“ If we take the las t three decades to estimate the loss of state revenue due to irregularities and fraud in all ADC (Revenue) offices of the country it would reach approximately Tk 3417.60 crore," Roy said.
He said if all other sources of state revenue collection' lik^ cus-
tom duties, income taxes and land registration fees could be ensured, then it is possible to prepare the annual development budget of the country with the state revenue.
From the beginning of the land administration which was purely a tax collection institution, it became a corrupt sector due to lack of proper management and accountability of its officials.
Misappropriation of public money through different ways and means like fraud or false documentation was very common and till now it is practised in land management sector.
A Special Audit Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (1999) on land revenue collection system found serious misapprqpnatioijs.aj^d irregularities in eight /\DC (Revenue) offices
and one union land office in the year 1995-96 involving more than Tk 14 crore.
Roy's book also shows that all the respondents he talked with have experiences in corruption of different types in land sector during mutation at union and upazila levels. Some 80 percent of the total 30 respondents opined that land officials like Tahsilders (TDR) had been engaged in bribing.
/Ml the respondents spoke of non-cooperation by AC (Land) officials and TDR officials during mutation.
A household survey (2005), conducted by the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), shows that out of 3000 households, 97 percent had to pay bribes for land registration, 85 percent for land mutation,- 85 percent for
collecting land-related documents, and 83 percent for land survey.
TIB Chairman Prof Muzaffer Ahmad in a write up titled 'Bangladesh: Corruption as People See It' quoted a female participant of a discussion as saying that it is difficult even to register a gift deed where no transaction of money takes place.
The household survey of TIB also gave some guidelines to combat corruption in land sector.
These include better political will, setting up special judicial branch, free flow of information, appointment of sector-wise ombudsman, policy and institutional reforms, social movement against corruption, and inclusion of ddfniptfbh issdb ihNdhbbll’dr| riculum.