Land-related services under one roof likely

KATHMANDU, Jan 8: People will likely be able to get all types of land-related business done efficiently under a single roof soon. A single window system, which is being worked out as suggested by the Administrative Reconstruction Commission (ARC), will materialize with the merger of two departments at the central level and three separate offices--Land Revenue, Land Reform and Survey--in the districts. [break]



According to Minister for Land Reform and Management Dambar Shrestha, this largest ever merger of government offices will not only relieve people of red tape but contribute markedly to discouraging corruption at such offices. "This will make for efficiency in service delivery," he said. "At the same time, it will also do away with structural problems that encourage malpractices."



Under the existing structure, there are 21 land reform offices and 83 land revenue offices under the Department of Land Reform and Management and 83 survey offices under the Survey Department.



The ministry has prepared a proposal in this connection after consultations with the Ministry of General Administration, and a task force was formed recently to propose an action plan. The nine-member panel is led by Director of the Survey Department Rajaram Chatkuli.



The panel will base its study primarily on suggestions made by ARC and look into several practical aspects to propose an action plan, said coordinator Chatkuli. "The reconstruction package would have to be proposed amid many challenges. We should not lose the check-and-balance mechanism intended under the present structure. Besides, there are technical and legal concerns aplenty," he added.



Minister Shrestha, however, does not take the integration process itself as an arduous task but fears it could fall prey to bureaucratic squabbles over new leadership. "We will go about it as a milestone in the reform of our administrative system," he added.

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