Major shake-up at UT estate office, over 50 transferred

Some officials had been holding the same post continuously for over 3.5 years

In a major shake-up at the UT estate office, over 50 officials across the different branches and hierarchy in the departments were transferred on Tuesday.

HT Image

The transfers were made from branch heads to senior assistants to clerks, comprising nearly one-fourth of the total strength of the estate office staff. There are around 200 officials in the department.

Confirming the development, assistant estate officer Munish Lohan said, “The transfers were made to improve the functioning of the department. There were some officials who had been holding the same post continuously for over 3.5 years.”

“The reshuffle was also made in the aftermath of the inter-departmental transfers recently made by the UT personnel department. Also, transfers were made after considering the merits and performance of the officials. This will also help built-up the capabilities of the staff by working in different branches,” said Lohan.

Of delays and complaints

The working of the estate office, infamous for delays and public harassment, has repeatedly come under criticism.

“There were several public complaints against the estate office for unnecessarily delaying people’s works, and improper conduct of officials in public dealing. All this put pressure on the administration to overhaul the staffing pattern in the department,” said a department official who didn’t want to be named.

Significantly, in July this year, the deputy commissioner-cum-estate officer Mandip Singh Brar had expressed concern over the rising number of pending files and court cases in the estate office. Brar had directed all officers to resolve the pendency and deal with the fresh cases in a timely manner. He had also warned that stringent disciplinary action will be taken against negligent officers.

Image makeover

In the past couple of months, the UT administration has been trying to improve the negative image of the estate office.

“We are making efforts mitigate the problems being faced by people and improve the working. The mass transfers is part of this process to better the performance,” Lohan said.

Last month, in a first, four estate office officials were served automatic show-cause notices for not clearing files within the stipulated time periods. The action came after a new system was introduced on July 22, under which a timeline was fixed for clearing of files by different departments in the estate office. A new software developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) was also put into place to track the pendency. This was to aid in timely disposal of files, and monitoring of work done by different branches of EO.

Also in July, two senior assistants were deputed to assist people at the estate office. A token system was introduced to avoid the rush and problems such as jumping the queue.