Study recommends e-governance as an effective measure

According to a working paper published by Transparency International (TI) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), Indians pay some $700 million every year for land administration services. Bangladeshis, according to the study, are among the worst sufferers in this respect. “Findings from a national household survey show that land administration ranks among the top three institutions in Bangladesh with the worst rates of bribery (71.2%), based on people who have had contact with the service. This figure has risen by nearly 20% since the last survey was done in 2007. The cost of bribes paid to land services is also the highest,” the study titled ‘Corruption in the Land Sector’ says.

It says that corruption can comprise small bribes that need to be paid to register property, change or forge titles, acquire land information, process cadastral surveys, and generate favourable land use plans. Corruption in land sector, the paper says, creates a disincentive to register property transactions, and increases the insecurity of land tenure. This undermines national land reforms. The study has said that corruption was one of the main reasons which caused Spain’s housing market crash in 2009—when almost 40% of construction in Europe was taking place in Spain.

“Among the 69 countries surveyed in the study, more than one out of every 10 people who contacted a land authority reported paying a bribe. This figure exceeds reported rates of bribery for schools, health services, tax authorities and public utilities,” says the paper. FAO and TI say that lack of knowledge of available services and applicable fees; along with complicated processes aid in corruption.

FAO and TI observe that poor land governance is strongly linked to public sector corruption. “Recent findings by TI show that there is a very strong correlation between levels of corruption in the land sector and overall public sector corruption. This result suggests that countries confronting pervasive public sector corruption are also suffering from a corrupt land sector—a finding which has broad and important implications for ensuring the integrity and effectiveness of initiatives related to natural resource management, including climate mitigation projects and agricultural output initiative,” the working paper says.

It claims empirical findings from more than 63 countries show that where corruption in land is less prevalent, it correlates to better development indicators, higher levels of foreign direct investment and increased crop yields.

For combating corruption in land sector, it is important for governments to revise policies and have strong vigilance bodies; provide legal recognition to tenure rights that are considered legitimate but are not correctly protected by law and to promote more transparent and effective land certification and registration systems, the paper concludes.

About the third option, it says that adopting simple and affordable measures like e-governance will have a considerable impact.