Term Paper

Evaluation of the Website of Ministry of Land: A Critical Evaluation

By Md. Omar Faroque Serial no. 235 MBA Program (14th Batch) HRM- 502: Management Information System

Department of Management Studies University of Dhaka Dhaka Bangladesh 2012

Table of Contents: Chapter No. Chapter-1 Chapter-2 Chapter-3 Chapter-4 Chapter-5 Chapter-6 Chapter Name Historical Background of Digitization Pre-profiles of the website Types of Information Provided by The Website Evaluation of Information Provided by The Website SWOT Analysis Possible Measures to Improve the Website Concluding Remarks Page No. 3 3 4 4 5 6 7

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Chapter 1: Historical Background of Digitization

In 21st century the use of information and communication technology has been playing a major role for globalization being possible. So the government is encouraged to adapt with the coming future. The democratic government has declared the Vision 2021 in the election manifesto which targets establishment of a resourceful and modern country by 2021 through effective use of information and communication technology that is digitization of all public and private sectors. Digitization does not only mean the broad use of computers, perhaps it means the effective and useful use of technology in all area of education, health, job placement, poverty reduction etc. Therefore, in step towards the vision, the government has been digitizing all ministries of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh since 2009. It was intended to ensure peoples democracy and rights, transparency, accountability, justice and proper delivery of government services in each door through maximum use of technology-with the ultimate goal to improve the daily lifestyle of general people. Governments vision includes all classes of people and does not discriminate people in terms of technology. Hence, government have emphasized on the four elements which are human resource development, people involvement, civil services and use of information technology in business. Keeping all these in mind the government formed this website of Ministry of Land.

Chapter 2: Pre-profiles of the website

Title: Ministry of Land Web address: http://www.minland.gov.bd Category: Government & Politics / Government & Ministry /Ministry of Land Added on: Jan-22, 2010 Page Rank: 4/10 The important aims and objectives of the website are helping in management and settlement of the government owned lands (khas lands), sairat mahals (jalmahal, shrimp mahal etc.), vested properties, and abandoned properties. Helping in collection of land development tax is another important task of this website as well as facilitating the ministry of land in land survey, record keeping, and updating. Acquisition and requisition of land are also important responsibilities of this ministry that are also intended to be aided by this website. Moreover, people all over the country can have information about their land in case of purchase, registration, sale, border determination, etc. from this website. Thus this website helps the ministry in land administration, management, and development for the benefit of the people of Bangladesh.

Chapter 3: Types of Information Provided by the Website III

The information provided in this website may be typed in terms of quantitative, qualitative, figurative, and descriptive criteria. The website reflects the amount of government owned lands (khas lands), sairat mahals (jalmahal, shrimp mahal), vested properties, abandoned properties, etc. It also gives information like total cultivable land, the acres of land cultivated yearly, the acres of land being changed registration name, the acres of land being sued for, amount of money needed for registration, where to go for registration, area wise characteristics of land in respect of ingredients of soil, crops grown, etc. This website also let us know about honorable Minister of Land including his personal, academic, and professional information. We can also learn how many staffs are there in the ministry of land. The organogram of the ministry in a hierarchical order, which let us know the reporting relationship among top level management. This website provides us with historical information about different constituting bodies of land ranging from the British period up to current period. It may also be known at a glance about the background of evolution of the Ministry of Land. This website also provides information about yearly lease value (per acre) of land for Tea Garden, division wise Information of Agriculture Khas Land Settlement, information about the land acquisition and requisition laws in Bangladesh, procedure for posting as Assistant Commissioner (Land), types functions of land appeal board, etc.

Chapter 4: Evaluation of Information Provided

Information provided in the website can be evaluated based on whether the information is updated, units of measurement are properly given, captions properly represent the information under them, and time series of data is maintained or not. Information is evaluated based on the following criteria: Time: Though the website was developed two years ago information provided here can be applied also today especially in case of rules and regulation for registration of land, laws regarding distribution of Khas land, laws regarding private ownership of land, etc. But information about key personnel and staffs about the ministry is not updated as expected. Information about cultivation of land is not also well updated because it requires day to day update operations. Unit of measurement: In this website units used for all measurements were given appropriately. But there were some English-Bengali mixture, errors of using coma in case of numbers of taka, spelling mistake of Bengali words in English, etc. Caption: From critical review it is found in the website that captions appropriately represent the ingredients into them. All descriptions regarding different aspects of the ministry of land are properly headed by appropriate captions though they are sometimes written in English sometimes in Bengali.

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Time series of data: This website focuses information from British period to present period with appropriate date of occurrence. It maintained chronological sequence of time while adding historical events of different time in the web site.

Chapter 5: SWOT Analysis

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Strengths and weaknesses are normally internal factors and strengths and weaknesses are external factors of the website. These aspects are mentioned in detail in the following way: Strengths:

1. This website is well organized. 2. It provides various links regarding land administration. 3. It provides plenty of information regarding land. 4. It provides contact information of key personnel of the ministry that will hep concerned
people communicate with those personnel.

5. Information is available about decisions taken by government about distribution and

management of land. 6. Information about different upcoming projects and their budgeted amount are there. 7. This website is updateable anytime required by government. 8. Most of the part of the website is written in Bengali. 9. Any one can access to this website. 10. Information is open to all.

11. Functions of land registration and survey department are mentioned in the website.
12. Procedure for redressing of different suits regarding land is described here. 13. Responsibilities of a Secretary of Land are clearly mentioned here. 14. Different Acts regarding land management are reprinted in the website. 15. Different notices and publications are communicated time to time in the website. 16. Information about acquiring of land for different government projects can be found here. 17. Information can be easily copied or downloaded for personal use.

18. Land maps indicating different villages, police stations, districts are provided in the website. 19. International border of Bangladesh is prescribed in this website.
Weaknesses: Although the website is full of above mentioned strengths, it is not free from inherent weaknesses. The weaknesses of the website are given below: 1. There are some wording mistakes in the website. 2. Mix of Bengali and English makes it complex to general users. 3. There are some repetition errors of concepts in the website.

4. Use of English in preparing the website makes difficulties for general users who approach to
find information for personal use. 5. Lack of detailed information about some aspects. 6. There is no information about how many people own how much land with their personal information. 7. There is no information about the land that is exempted from tax.

8. No information about tax rates on different areas of land. 9. Lack of information about website profile.
10. This website is overflowed with some less relevant information. 11. Lack of security of the website. Opportunities: 1. This is a government owned website. 2. Easily updateable. 3. Fund for the website development is sufficient. 4. This website can link any other websites related to the ministry of land. Threats: 1. Information can be manipulated. 2. Misleading information can be added to this website. 3. Wrong information can misguide people using information of the website. 4. This website can be hacked to misrepresent information of the website.

Chapter 6: Possible Measures to Improve the Website

From discussions mentioned above we see that this website is still needed to be improved. Here some possible measures to improve the website are suggested-

1. Concerned authority should take necessary measures to improve the website.

2. They should foster integrity to update and upgrade the information provided in the website. 3. Systems should be developed to protect the website from hacking. 4. Auto updating system should be used in the website so that it can be automatically updated with new information.

5. Total website should be developed with Bengali font so that general people can have access
easily to information of the website. 6. English spelling of Bengali words should be written in prescribed spelling system given by Bangla Academy. 7. Bangla writing should also be rectified in terms of spelling. 8. All information should be more relevant for general users.

9. Captions can be more logical and relevant.

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Concluding Remarks: Though many of the Government websites are not well organised, this website is much better than other ones. Most of the information people require regarding land acquisition, requisition, sale, etc. can be found in the website. People who want to purchase or lease land from private or government hand can maximally be helped by this website.

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