Punjab: Efforts on to make tehsils corruption free, says CM

In the past, revenue officers used to think they have the right to loot people through corruption and they even threatened to disrupt the work if any action was taken against them, says CM Mann

The state government is making efforts to make tehsil and sub-tehsil complexes across the state free of corruption, chief minister Bhagwant Mann said on Monday. Addressing a gathering after dedicating a new tehsil complex here, constructed at the cost of ₹8.55 crore, the CM said that revenue officers, in the past, used to think they have the right to loot people through corruption and they even threatened to disrupt the work if any action was taken against them.

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann addressing a gathering at Dudan Sadhan village in Patiala on Monday. (ANI)

“The state government came up with a crackdown against corrupt practices. The result is that all the tehsils and sub-tehsils complexes across Punjab are heading towards becoming corruption free,” he stated.

The CM further said that revenue officers used to harass people by taking mass leaves or resorting to strikes, but the state government didn’t bow before the “corrupt” officers. To check corruption, the state government introduced an easy registration initiative for land deeds which promotes self-reliance, reduces dependency on private deed writers and empowers citizens to handle their transactions independently, Mann said.

Regarding the new tehsil complex, Mann said the foundation stone of this ambitious project was laid in January 2023 and the work was completed in a record time. “This project will immensely benefit people by delivering citizen-centric services in a time-bound manner,” he said.

“Dudan Sadhan was primarily a rural area and earlier the SDM office was situated far away in mini secretariat, Patiala. So, people had to suffer a lot to get their routine administrative work done,” he said.

“The region around Patiala lagged behind in development due to vested interests and greed of the successive rulers. Those in power decorated their palaces at the cost of dilapidation of the city,” he said.