As part of its fast-tracked digital transformation in the land sector, the government has initiated the piloting of an upgraded and user-friendly version of e-mutation software across 19 land circles in Dhaka district. This initiative has commenced under the urgent directive of Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, according to a press release issued by his office on Sunday.

The program is being implemented under the leadership of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division. In addition to the piloting of e-mutation, four types of land services have already been made available to the public online. These include LD tax (nationwide), e-mutation (in pilot phase), e-porcha, e-khatian, and mouza maps (all nationwide). The LD tax service, now operational across the country, has already facilitated the collection of approximately Tk 2 billion in land revenue.

In an effort to reduce public hassle, the government has taken steps to avoid fragmented digital platforms by initiating a unified and modern "Land Service Gateway." This gateway aims to integrate the four key services — LD tax, e-mutation, e-porcha/e-khatian, and mouza maps — under a single interface, eliminating the need for separate registrations for each service. Officials believe that once this unified service is rolled out across all land circles nationwide, it will significantly enhance access to land-related services for citizens.

The press release further explained that the e-mutation service, due to its procedural linkage with judicial processes and involvement of multiple agencies, requires additional piloting for simplification. This includes streamlining of workflow and e-file handling systems to make the service more efficient.

The digital transformation of land services is being driven collaboratively by the Chief Adviser and his office, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Land A S M Saleh Ahmed, and Fayez Ahmed Tayyab, the Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser for the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology.

In the next phase of digitization, the government plans to offer training programs for private entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs from Union Digital Centers (UDCs). The objective is to enable these local actors to provide online land services at the union and ward levels, bringing services closer to rural citizens.

Currently, more than 70 percent of all court cases and disputes in Bangladesh are related to land — involving ownership, occupation, dispossession, acquisition, and transfer. In view of this, the government remains committed to opening up land services to citizens as quickly and conveniently as possible through accessible software and digital platforms.