The government-enforced barring of land fragmentation has not helped control the divisions of cultivable land, rather it has contributed to the corruption in the sector, said the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).

The government two years ago prohibited the fragmentation of land (Kittakat) with an expectation to encourage farming practice through land consolidation. It was also expected to check the falling agricultural productivity. However, the CIAA through issuing a press statement on Friday said that it receives a large number of complaints against bribes taken by the officials related to land management and survey.

Earlier, the National Vigilance Centre in its two and a half months study had also pointed out an increase in corruptions after the government implemented the rule on land fragmentation. The watchdog body had found that the government staff were allowing the landowners to go against the rule in return for bribes while settling a number of cases to settle disputes between the landowners and tillers.

The CIAA has identified an increasing number of cases where people have made fake agreement papers to carry out land fragmentation. Likewise, many households are found to have gone into fake division of inherited property just for the purpose. “With the reason, the courts have to face an increased workload just to settle such cases,” reads the CIAA press statement.

The anti-graft body also says that the government's new rule has failed to promote consolidated farming practices throughout the country. Similarly, there is no uniformity seen among the government offices to effectively implement the direction issued by the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation. In the lack of appropriate legal framework in the sector, the ministry’s decision has even increased complexity and irregularities, according to the CIAA.

Terming the provision of land fragmentation an unscientific move, the anti-graft body has also asked the ministry to revisit its previous decisions and directions on the matter.

source: republica, 20 June 2020