Punjab revenue officials given back property registration work
Punjab government also reshuffled entire revenue staff across the state and now the state government is pondering over rationalising their posting. After the withdrawal of the said work, they were left with law and order duties and general work such as issuance of certificates and registration of marriages.
The revenue department, Punjab, has handed over the work of registries and mutation of properties back to tehsildars and naib-tehsildars. The powers were withdrawn after mass protests by the revenue officials in March.
The state government also reshuffled entire revenue staff across the state and now the state government is pondering over rationalising their posting. After the withdrawal of the said work, they were left with law and order duties and general work such as issuance of certificates and registration of marriages.
“Gradually things are coming back to normal because the revenue staff have realised that protests doesn’t solve any purpose and they have assured to be a disciplined cadre,” said a senior revenue department officer on condition of anonymity confirming that the normal work for revenue officers has been resumed.
On March 5, the government has withdrawn registry work from the tehsildars and handed over the same to the clerical staff posted in the deputy commissioners’ offices.
The same day, the state government suspended 15 tehsildars and naib-tehsildars for not performing their official duty after which revenue officials called off their strike, keeping in view the “law-and-order” situation arising out of the farmers’ protest across the state during those days. The government, however, withdrew the work of registration of properties from them.
During the same time (March 4), chief minister Bhagwant Mann gave stern warning to the protesting revenue officials during a media address in Mohali. The CM had candidly said that “they wanted licence for corruption, but his government has ‘zero tolerance for corruption’ and will not get blackmailed”.
So far, the suspended officials have not been reinstated, and they have been deputed on work at department’s head office in Chandigarh.
Maninder Singh, former president of the tehsildar association, said it’s back to work for everyone and it is going on at full swing. “However, there are some issues which we are hopeful that the government will resolve soon,” he added.
On March 4, the Punjab Revenue Officers’ Association suspended the property registration work till March 7 in protest against the Vigilance Bureau (VB) action against some revenue officials in Ludhiana in a fraudulent land deal. Subsequently, they had gone on a mass casual leave, affecting registration work and causing inconvenience to the people.
The protesters also announced that they would not carry out property registration work till March 7 but would undertake other works such as ‘girdawari’ and mutation. The mutation work, however, remained suspended for a long time. “The work was to be given back to them (tehsildars) as they are the master of land records, but government wanted to convey a strong message that work is top priority,” said another senior officer of the department.
There are at least 100 tehsildars, and 200 naib-tehsildars posted in different tehsils of the state and due to some vacancies, some of the revenue officers are holding dual charge. The government then had ordered mass scale reshuffle ordering transfer of 235 revenue officers, including 58 tehsildars (sub-registrar) and 177 naib-tehsildars (joint sub-registrars), on administrative grounds.
