Questions/Answers

Bangladesh is the most densely populated country in the world with more than 1,200 people per square kilometer. Due to a lack of resources, the Digital Bangladesh initiative couldn’t make any great impact on the area of land reformation. On the other hand, the scarcity of land and complex property transfer system made it one of the most disputed issues of the country. And the only way to ensure the ownership is by mutation. The mutation of the land is commonly known as the most troublesome process as it involves various kinds of externalities such as corruption, distortion, delay as well as middle-men problem, etc. Financial and social power factors often intervene and interrupt the fair process. Marginal and low income people with a small piece of land, or a widow got some lands from her late husband are usually get affected by the system which could be easily manipulated and no one could even know. Manual mutation process used to take 45 days to 60 days to accomplish 1 case. Applicants have to pay more than 3 or 4 visits to complete a mutation. They were also captive by middleman regarding application submission and had to expense a lot money to get the khatian. The idea of “e-Mutation” is for changing the whole picture of the land offices in Bangladesh. The objective of the e-Mutation initiative is to establish a digital mechanism for mutation application, tracking the progress and delivery of timely service. It is to transform the administration as a digital one to significantly reduce Time, Cost and Visit (TCV) for availing the e-Mutation service. e-Mutation aims to reduce the hassles and other costs associated with the lengthy and uncertain process. Using simple but effective ICT based system, the initiative aims to ensure transparency and accountability in the process, with a space for citizens’ engagement to confirm that. On the other hand, it is to increase the credibility of the public administration related to land services.

The e-Mutation is aligned with Category 3: Developing transparent and accountable public institutions. It is fostering transparency and accountability in the land sector of Bangladesh using digital technologies in the land offices, transforming from the previous analog system. It geared up the mutation process with better transparency and credibility. The e-Mutation system has helped people to save their time, cost and visits as it takes only 28 days instead of 45 to 60 days and a single visit to get the service. As a whole, the e-Mutation process has successfully addressed the gaps and challenges and introduced a better way of land service delivery.

The ‘e-Mutation’ system concretely pairs with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development targets and indicators under SDGs 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions. It mitigates corruption and bribery by using transparency which is associated with SDGs target 16.5. The system provides information and applicants can track their application down which pairs with target 16.6. And by aligning with the target 16.10, it ensures the public access to the information as citizens can see the status of their application and get timely notifications from this system. Full scale implementation of the system will encourage other related public offices as well. As a result, it is contributing in implementation of strong institutions, even in local levels of the public administration. By benefitting the marginal people most, it will ultimately contribute in overall 2030 agenda of sustainable development. Furthermore, this initiative is aligned with SDG 10: Reduced inequalities. The system ensures equal opportunities and reduced inequalities of outcome regardless of gender, socio-economic standing and financial solvency, perfectly fitting with target 10.3.

The ‘e-Mutation’ system doesn’t require any external supports once introduced. As it is automated and can run by itself thus doesn’t need any additional supporting system, the initiative is environment friendly. It ensures the fair process for the socially disadvantaged and it is economically viable for the service recipients. This system also ensures a less-paper office which is eco-friendly and in addition to that, in Kutubdia, where the electricity is not available, the land offices are using solar power panels and mobile-based internet system to run the ‘e-Mutation’ process and they successfully kept 100% mutation rate at their area.

The ‘e-Mutation’ has particularly affected the underserved population consisting of socially and economically disadvantaged, women, the elderly, persons with disabilities, etc. It especially serves the people living in remote areas with a low literacy-rate and as a result, they get harassed while completing mutations, acquiring inherited land or obtaining information. The culture of corruption and bureaucratic procrastination was addressed by the system as the ‘e-Mutation’ system enforces the officials to work more efficiently and abide by the law, which increases accountability and transparency. Till now, almost 1.5 crore beneficiaries are being served by e-mutation service as it ensures the delivery at the shortest period, low cost and minimum visit. The recent inclusion of hotline service ‘16122’ for land-related issues has been introduced to address the grievances. It will allow the greater engagement of citizens as service recipient in the process. Furthermore, the ‘e-mutation’ system is constantly monitored by officials from the Land Ministry, Land Reform Board (LRB) and the ICT Division.

The initiative addresses gender inequality in the country context. Before implementing the initiative it discourages women to go for mutation. Because it was too time consuming and required several visits to land offices far from home. The whole system was highly mediator/broker based and it was tough for women to deal with them than the men. Since the system is fully digital it is easy and equal for both men and women to apply for mutation. So, it is addressing the male dominance in land related activities thus reducing gender inequality with the new system.

The target group were people who have lands without mutation (ownership). Citizen of Bangladesh who have land by ancestral property, by purchasing, or heba (gift), decree, auction, settlement, etc. can avail the service online to change the ownership title in the government register. Any citizen from rural or marginal areas, women, and economically disadvantaged people are equally served by the e-mutation system. As the initiative requires less time, less money, minimized harassment, less visit and gives better quality services, it improved the outcome for the target group. Citizens previously needed to visit the AC Land offices (local land office) for a minimum of 5 times to obtain mutation. But after implementation of the system, applicants only need to make 1 or 2 visits to complete mutation formalities. The favorable outcome is: people are more interested in this new system to get the mutation of their land as the service is being delivered in the most effective and efficient way.

The e-Mutation system was implemented in different steps over time. Firstly, the Land Ministry conducted a research in the mid of 2016 to see the conditions of the mutation process on different land offices. The focus of this research was to find out the shortcomings of the analog-based system and the potentials of the electronic system. After getting the research findings, the ministry set-up a pilot project in February 2017 in 7 sub-districts offices (Bishwanath, Pirojpur Sadar, Chatok, Chatmohor, Sirajganj Sadar, Panchagar Sadar, Jhinaidhaha Sadar) and found that, the project was running perfectly. Finally, after the successful implementation of the pilot project, the government, on 1st July 2019, issued an order to introduce e-Mutation all over the country. Than it implemented in 112 sub-districts and after successful operation now e-mutation system is implemented in 485 sub-districts in 61 districts. Total application submitted in the system 14,06,769 and total case disposed 9,34,868. There are total 11 steps where 8 steps is compulsory and 3 are maintained when necessary. In terms of monitoring and evaluation activities, the innovators set-up a ‘monitoring dashboard’ that helps the stakeholders, including DCs, ADCs and the Secretary of the ministry, to monitor the whole process from different layers of the government. Different types of report can generated through the system. With such a system, even the applicants could trace down their application. The e-Mutation system monitoring process was implemented in different layers and administrative levels. For instance; Union Land offices, Upazila Land offices, Ministry of Land and the Cabinet Ministry are working together to make this project a success.

The e-Mutation system has gone through various obstacles and challenges over time. The initial challenge the system faced was changing the culture and mentality of the citizens. Because of the lack of education and trust in the government offices – citizens were reluctant to use the system in the first place. The publicity of the government and the success stories helped citizens to know about and trust the system. Furthermore, the lack of logistical support was also a major setback. But the ministry dealt with it by ensuring at-least one computer, flawless internet support and printer in every land office.

The social and economic status of the country made the ‘e-Mutation’ system very much innovative. Firstly, the successful applicants are notified through text messages and they can track their application from anywhere and anytime using their tracking number. Additionally, the unique monitoring and evaluation system of the service allows the monitoring authorities easy access to weekly, monthly, semi-annual and annual reports of each division/district/sub-districts’ mutation applications and disposals. Finally, the hotline service provides all sorts of information and checks the transparency of the process from the center.

The idea of ‘e-Mutation’ is original as this is a part of the government’s large agenda of Digital Bangladesh. The system is a cluster of research, monitoring and evaluation system, different from other contemporary systems. Some of the countries like India, Nepal, and Pakistan are using digital land ownership systems partly while Bangladesh is using it widely. For instance: the other countries have enabled such a system for specific provinces or states while Bangladesh has introduced it all over the country. It got inspiration from the integrated systems in developed world but the ‘e-mutation’ is unique regarding context and implementation.

This initiative may not be transferred and/or adapted to other contexts as far as our organization’s knowledge. This is because of the land management system in other countries or region are quite different from our land management process. But it is also possible for any context if they want they can replicate it aligning with their land management.

The initiative is an idea of introducing digital technologies replacing the archaic land management system. The other countries with similar context in land sector can replicate the idea after customization. The initiative hasn’t been transferred or adapted to other cities, countries or regions yet. But there are some discussions ongoing with 2-3 countries those may adopt this initiative in the future. The Southern countries with the same context as Bangladesh are willing able to replicate the initiative under South-South Cooperation for easy and accessible land services.

The ‘e-mutation’ system mobilizes financial, human and technological resources to implement the system in 485 sub-districts of 61 districts of Bangladesh. Almost 1,200 trainers had participated in the Training of Trainers (ToT) and almost 9656 users had participated in user training in different districts. This training was conducted in three phases in collaboration with the Land Reform Board (LRB). The land reform board had distributed the hardware like – desktops, laptops, printers, etc. to facilitate the ‘e-Mutation’. The server is managed by and stored in Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC)

The system doesn’t need a big human resource while the training modules are now transferring online by using the online platform like MuktoPaath which eliminates further funding for face-to-face training programs. Monitoring and evaluation of the e-mutation performance are analyzed from land ministry to district administration. Budget are allocated for training, resource purchase, data connection etc. this budget will disseminate by Land Reform board if needed further. Land Reform Board will inquire about the demand and fulfil it. Public procurement also done by Land Reform Board for resource purchase. Server management support will be given by the Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC).

Yes

It was evaluated by Professor Dr. Saber Ahmed Chowdhury, Associate Professor, Dhaka University through both qualitative and quantitative research. The main objective of the study was to evaluate how the implementation of e-mutation of service has changed citizens’ experience from time-cost-visits (TCV) perspective. Significant changes has revealed in time, cost and number of visits required for e-mutation compared to the manual process. The changes are not linear. In brief, it has found reduction of time, increase of cost and an ambiguous change in the number of visits. The study also highlights overall experience, level of acceptance and challenges faced by the beneficiaries.

The indicators and tools here is KOBO toolbox for data collection & STATA software for statistics and data sign. This study was conducted as a follow-up to a base-line study on land mutation that was conducted in 2016 to evaluate the status of TCV in manual process. The current study focuses on how digitization of the process changed citizen’s experience of TCV and what can be done more to improve the service. It has applied the mixed method of research collecting both quantitative and qualitative data from 189 beneficiaries of e-mutation selected from 51 Upazillas of 8 divisions all around the country using stratified random sampling technique.

The evaluation was done by conducting a study of the time, costs and visits associated with availing a service through e-mutation. Time reduction study showed that: • 68% of service recipients reported the completion time to be 3 hours or less. • 39.2% opined that the process requires 100 minutes or less. • For 34.2%, it requires between 101-200 minutes. • For 11.4%, it requires between 201 and 300 minutes. Evaluation of cost reduction (keeping DCR costs and court fees same for everyone) showed that: • On average, 39% individuals spent 1300 BDT. • 34.8% spent between 1300 to 1500 BDT. • 26% spent over 1500 BDT When comparing the number of visits associated with the manual system, the results showed that: • 1.2% can get the mutation done with a single visit. • 52.4% of the people said they can get their work done in 2 visits, increasing from 22%. • 31% got their work done by 3 visits, compared to 62% before. • 8.3% got their work dine in 4 visits, down from 16% and • 7.1% required 4 or more visits. When asked if availability and ability to receive e-mutation service has helped the citizens, over 94% said yes. And when asked how satisfied they’re with getting the service, close to 80% stated satisfied or very satisfied.

The e-Mutation system works in an integrated manner while it adjoins different government offices under one umbrella. And the system works both horizontally and vertically across different levels of government. The Ministry of Land is the central authority that coordinates and monitors the divisional land offices. In the second phase; the divisional land offices monitor the district offices while the district offices coordinate the sub-districts land offices. And finally, the sub-district land offices monitor and support the union land offices. And interestingly, the e-Mutation system coordinates all these government offices while all the stakeholders including the citizens and officials could see and trace down the applications from any office. The most important feature of the system is, it ensures a transparent service for all citizens irrespective of their class, economic status, and social condition. Horizontally, the e-Mutation system connects all the AC Land offices of the country. This system also integrated different services delivered from different levels of government, for instance; the R.S Khatian service, Land Information and Service Framework (LISF) and the Inheritance Calculator service, etc.

In designing the system, the stakeholders i.e. the Cabinet Division, the Ministry of Land, and the Land Reform Board worked in collaboration after completion of several workshops, meetings, and seminars to develop the ‘e-Mutation’ system. The Land Reform Board replicated the initiative in 485 sub-districts in 61 districts of Bangladesh, after successful piloting in 47 sub-districts of all over the country. It already had positive impacts on the people in the implemented areas. The system also auto-generates reports on various indicators like the monthly comparison between sub-districts. Monitoring is been done by the Land Ministry supported by divisional and district administrations. The Land Administration, the Land Ministry, union offices, etc. are all aligned through the e-mutation system. Moreover, several workshops have been conducted with the divisional administration’s support with the participation of the Ministry to union-level land administration officials to improve the system more sustainably. The research on mutation system engaged the stakeholders including the target beneficiaries. Citizen’s participation was ensured through Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and their opinions were taken into account during the design and implementation of e-Mutation. Citizens can take part in evaluation of the system by reporting dis/satisfaction dialing a helpline number. The number is 16122.

We have learned that • An electronic system can be more transparent than the conventional file processing system. To keep up the pace of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in this ever-changing world, we need to keep us updated with the Electronic system and en route to this; the e-Mutation could be the best solution as it involves almost all the households in Bangladesh. • The technological innovation and promotion of this system would be helpful to make ‘e-Mutation’ more reachable to the mass people. It will need supports from related public entities under a common policy framework. • Continuous research and user engagement is needed for further system enhancement. The initiative continuously learns from the results and challenges. • Yet inadequate infrastructure including internet, electricity and ICT infrastructure is a barrier to the system implementation. • Lack of literacy including ICT literacy among the citizen and also in user level By analyzing the results and addressing different challenges the major learnings are: • Steps need to be taken to increase ICT literacy among the user through training and sensitization; • Commitments from Government (responsible ministries) is vital for policy and infrastructure issues; and • Periodic mass promotion using 360 degree communication approach was very helpful to inform the citizens about e-Mutation and get feedback from them.