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Land service centres are set to open in 61 districts on Thursday as the Ministry of Land moves to make land administration more transparent, accountable and citizen-friendly, including through mandatory suggestion boxes for public complaints and feedback.
Land Minister Mizanur Rahman Minu is likely to inaugurate the centres, said Sadequr Rahman, deputy secretary (DKMP) of the ministry.
Under the latest instruction issued on Wednesday last, each district land service centre must install a clearly visible suggestion box where members of the public can submit complaints, advice and feedback in writing on the services they receive.
A designated monitoring officer will open the boxes every week, review unresolved issues and take necessary action before submitting a summary to the centre's director.
Sadequr Rahman told the Daily Sun that many of the centres had already been installed, while work on others was under way.
The ministry has formulated the District Land Service Centre Management Guidelines 2026, under which deputy commissioners of 61 districts were directed last month to establish the centres.
The latest directive also asks DCs to put up awareness banners and posters at the entrances and inside the centres, providing information on online land mutation applications, obtaining certified copies, paying land development tax, fixed government fees for services and the ministry's helpline, 16122.
For greater security and accountability, each centre must also have CCTV cameras covering its premises. The respective deputy commissioner's office will arrange and fund the installation locally.
The ministry will assess the performance of every centre every three months, focusing on the volume and quality of services delivered and the resolution of complaints submitted through the suggestion boxes.
District administrations will have to submit a standardised report to the ministry's DKMP wing within 10 working days of the end of each quarter.
Earlier last month, the ministry instructed DCs to establish the centres at their offices or other suitable premises under their jurisdiction, excluding upazila and union land offices.
Each centre will have four counters staffed by four land service facilitators. Additional deputy commissioners (revenue) will act as centre managers, with one counter reserved exclusively for expatriates and their family members.
The Additional Secretary or Joint Secretary in charge of the DKMP wing will supervise all district land service centres. DCs will collect information from their respective offices and prepare annual reports on the previous financial year by 30 September each year for submission to the ministry.
The facilitators will help citizens access a range of online and automated land services, including payment of land development tax, mutation applications, record corrections and certified copies of records, maps and plots.
They will also assist with registration, password and mobile number changes, and corrections to NID information through www.land.gov.bd, as well as online applications for settlement of agricultural khas land and other services available through the Bhumi mobile app.