The Ministry of Land has taken an initiative to introduce a technology-based digital monitoring system to ensure transparency and accountability in the attendance and activities of officials and employees working in land offices across the country. Under this mobile application-based system, geo-location and geo-fencing technologies will be used to monitor office attendance and duty performance in real time.
Given the vast network of land offices across the country, it is not practically possible for the administration to conduct daily on-site inspections everywhere. Although monitoring activities are regularly carried out at various levels—including the ministry, divisional commissioners, district administrations, and upazila administrations—continuous supervision of all offices simultaneously remains challenging. This limitation has led to the decision to adopt a technology-driven monitoring approach.
Land offices have long faced complaints of irregularities, including the absence of officials and employees, the influence of broker syndicates, delayed service delivery, and the leaving of tasks incomplete. Citizens often report difficulties in obtaining services such as mutation, land development tax payment, record correction, and khatian-related services.
According to ministry sources, under the new system, officials and employees of upazila and union land offices will be required to use a dedicated mobile application. Their location data will be stored in a central server and displayed on a dashboard, allowing higher authorities to monitor the activities of specific offices or officials as needed.
A pilot project is planned to be implemented initially in Dhaka, Narayanganj, and Gazipur districts. The application is expected to be developed with the assistance of a private company, although a final decision regarding the provider and total cost has not yet been made.
Md. Emdadul Haque Chowdhury, Additional Secretary of the Digitalization, Knowledge Management and Performance (DKMP) Wing of the Ministry of Land, stated that it is not feasible to conduct direct monitoring across the entire country. Therefore, the ministry has initiated a technology-based monitoring system. He added that the application will be used to monitor the attendance and location of officials and employees during office hours, and detailed guidelines regarding software usage, data storage, and accountability will be included in a user manual.
He further noted that the pilot project is expected to begin between July and August. If the results of the pilot phase are satisfactory, the system will be gradually expanded to land offices nationwide.
The new system will also incorporate geo-fencing technology, which will define specific geographical boundaries for each land office. This will allow authorities to verify whether officials are present at their assigned offices or performing field duties.
However, concerns regarding personal privacy have also been raised in connection with the initiative. The ministry has clarified that this is not a system for monitoring personal life. Its sole purpose is to ensure transparency in official duties and improve public service delivery during working hours. It has also been stated that monitoring will be strictly limited to office hours only, with no tracking outside working time.
Land services are among the most important public services for citizens, involving issues such as land ownership, mutation, tax collection, and record correction. The introduction of this digital monitoring system is expected to improve service efficiency and reduce irregularities and absenteeism in land offices.