Land ministry’s Digital Land Tax System wins UN award

Bangladesh's Digital Land (Development) Tax system – under the Ministry of Land – has won this year's World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) award.

International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Secretary General Houlin Zhao handed over the WSIS trophy to Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury at an event held in Switzerland on Tuesday.

Land Secretary Md Mostafizur Rahman was present at the event, reads an official release issued in this regard.

"It is a great honour and privilege for the land ministry to receive the WSIS prize. This recognition will inspire us to work better," said the minister after receiving the award.

Saifuzzaman Chowdhury said that the journey to today's position was not an easy one. 

"At one point, the whole land service management system in Bangladesh was in chaos. 

"When the present government, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, came to power in 2009, for the first time, a plan for land service digitization was adopted in order to overcome this situation," he added. 

He said, "Today, we have become part of the digital system after overcoming various challenges.

"And winning the WSIS prize has given us now rather more responsibilities on our shoulders to do more and more for the people and the country."

The land ministry initiative was recognised as the best project/initiative in category seven namely "ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life - E-government" of the prestigious WSIS competition. 

WSIS prizes are given in 18 categories.

Leaders across the world, ministers, senior government officials, civil society representatives, academia, the private sector representatives, representatives from international and regional organizations, including the UN, and prize winners attended the ceremony.