Zero tolerance for corruption in land services: Senior Secretary

Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Land, ASM Saleh Ahmed, has vowed zero tolerance for corruption within land services, emphasizing that providing citizen-friendly and transparent services is the ministry’s foremost priority.

Speaking at the 77th team meeting at the Secretariat on Monday, he stressed that any evidence of corruption or harassment will be promptly addressed.

Saleh Ahmed highlighted that digitization efforts, including online registration and the e-mutation system, have significantly reduced fraudulent land transactions by automatically updating ownership records, thus curbing forgery and land-related crimes.

A dedicated Land Service Digitization Team has been formed under the Chief Advisor’s guidance, conducting weekly performance reviews across divisions to ensure accountability.

The ministry has also intensified monitoring from metropolitan to grassroots levels, taking disciplinary action against officials found negligent or involved in harassment based on inspection reports.

The meeting further announced that the Ministry of Finance has approved the appointment of a panel of in-house legal advisors to manage important government land cases efficiently. Regular mobile courts are also being held to crack down on illegal sand and soil extraction, with offenders fined accordingly.

The draft Land Management Manual has been circulated among divisional and district officials for feedback, after which it will be sent to the Ministry of Law for vetting.

Officials present included Additional Secretaries Md. Shariful Islam, Saima Yunus, Md. Emdadul Haque Chowdhury, and Mohammad Mahfuzur Rahman.