Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday read the riot act to protesting tehsildars in Punjab, telling them to return to work immediately or the government will find their replacements.
The chief minister gave the stern warning to the protesting revenue officials while talking to the media during his visit to tehsils in Mohali and Kharar. The Punjab Revenue Officers’ Association on Monday announced to suspend property registrations till March 7 in protest against a sub-registrar, nambardar, registry clerk and others in Ludhiana for their alleged involvement in a fraudulent land deal. Following the call, tehsildars went on mass casual leave, affecting the registration of properties at several places in the state.
Taking a strict stand against the striking revenue officials, Mann said they wanted licence for corruption, but his government has ‘zero tolerance for corruption’ and will not get blackmailed. “We have assigned to kanungos and other officials the duty to do the property registration work. If need be, we will give these powers to (school) principals and headmasters, but they (protesting tehsildars) will not be allowed to blackmail the government and cause inconvenience to the public,” he told reporters.
The CM said he has never taken money, nor is there any allegation against him and he will not allow anyone to indulge in corruption. He that if they do not resume work immediately, the government will find replacements. “There are thousands of qualified people. We will employ them,” he said, telling additional chief secretary-cum-financial commissioner, revenue, Anurag Verma to put up the agenda for recruitment of new revenue officials in the next meeting of the state council of ministers. He said that once they (striking tehsildars) return to work, people will decide where and when they can join after this holiday and whether or not to rejoin.
Earlier, Mann posted on X that tehsildars were protesting in favour of their “corrupt colleagues” but his government was against taking bribes. “To prevent inconvenience to the public, other tehsil officers are being given the responsibility of all tehsil work so that people’s business is not disrupted,” he wrote.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier, Mann posted on X that tehsildars were protesting in favour of their “corrupt colleagues” but his government was against taking bribes. “To prevent inconvenience to the public, other tehsil officers are being given the responsibility of all tehsil work so that people’s business is not disrupted,” he wrote.
{{/usCountry}}Punjab becoming dharna state
Mann said that Punjab is becoming a dharna state due to frequent protests.
The CM said he told the farmer leaders that Punjab was suffering losses due to their daily road, rail and other blockades. “We are losing economically. My soft approach should not be mistaken for inability to take action. I am the custodian of 3.5 crore people. I have to look after everyone,” he said on being asked by reporters about what transpired in his meeting with Samyukta Kisan Morcha leaders regarding the latter’s week-long sit-in protest in Chandigarh from March 5.
The CM said that during the discussions, he asked the farmer leaders about their protest plans, to which they said the sit-in would be held as per the plan. “I asked them why have you then made me sit here for two-and-a-half hours. Their demands are not related to the state government, but to the central government. They were not budging from their protest plans and still wanted to hold talks for two, three, four hours,” he said.
Mann said that the farmer union leaders told him that if they had not given the protest call, he would not have called them for this meeting. “I told the farmer leaders that I have been meeting them even without there being any protest threats. Also, I said to them that I have not called this meeting because I was afraid (of their protest). I conveyed to them that meetings and morchas (protests) cannot go on together. I cancelled further discussion and told them to go ahead with their protest,” he added.