Punjab govt suspends 15 tehsildars, naib tehsildars

Following the move, joint action committee of the revenue department decided to proceed on mass leave from Wednesday

Hours after chief minister Bhagwant Mann issued a stern warning to protesting revenue officials, the Punjab government suspended 15 tehsildars and naib tehsildars, including Punjab Revenue Officers’ Association chief Lachman Singh Randhawa, with immediate effect for not performing their official duty.

Following the move, joint action committee of the revenue department decided to proceed on mass leave from Wednesday.

Following the move, the Joint Action Committee of the revenue department decided to proceed on mass leave from Wednesday. Tejinder Singh, convener of the action committee, said all the four cadres of state government working in the revenue department, including tehsildars, naib tehsildars, kanungos, patwaris and employees of deputy commissioner offices across the state will go on mass leave against the “dictatorial” attitude of the state government.

He added that the decision has been jointly taken by Punjab Revenue Officers’ Association, DC Office Employees’ Unions, Revenue Kanungos Association and Revenue Patwar Union.

Earlier in the day, the Punjab Revenue Officers’ Association called off their strike. However, the association members said they won’t execute registries till March 7.

The orders for their suspension were issued by additional chief secretary-cum-financial commissioner, revenue, Anurag Verma. Those suspended include six tehsildars and naib tehsildars each from Moga and Muktsar and two from Ferozepur. “Proceedings for major punishment under Rule 8 of the Punjab Civil Services (Punishment and Appeal) Rules, 1970, are contemplated against them,” read the official order.

During the suspension period, their headquarter has been fixed at the financial commissioner, revenue, office. An official spokesperson said that these tehsildars and naib tehsildars were placed under suspension because they refused to register sale deeds.

Tehsildars in Punjab, who had been on strike since Monday, returned to work on Tuesday afternoon after the CM directed them to join their duties immediately or face action. However, even after rejoining, tehsildars stayed away from property registration work, which is currently being handled by other revenue officials, including kanungos and superintendents on their behalf.

President of the Punjab Revenue Officers’ Association Lachman Singh Randhawa said: “We have joined our duties after one-day mass leave, but we are not doing registries till March 7. The work is not going to be disrupted as the government has appointed superintendents and kanungos for registration of properties.”

The Punjab Revenue Officers’ Association had announced on Monday that property registrations would be suspended until March 7 to protest the Vigilance Bureau (VB) action against a sub-registrar, nambardar, registry clerk and others in Ludhiana over their alleged involvement in a fraudulent land deal. Following the call, tehsildars went on mass casual leave, disrupting property registrations at several locations across the state.

The chief minister issued warning to the revenue officials during his visit to Banur, Mohali and Kharar tehsils to get the work of registration started.

Taking a firm stance, Mann accused revenue officials of seeking a licence for corruption, emphasising his government’s ‘zero tolerance for corruption’. He said that his government would not succumb to blackmail. “In order to ensure that people do not face any inconvenience, the PCS officers, kanungos and senior assistants have been made sub registrars to carry on the work smoothly. If necessary, we will give these powers to (school) principals and headmasters, but we will not allow the protesting tehsildars to hold the government or the public to ransom,” he told reporters.

Mann reiterated that he has never taken bribes and has no allegations, vowing his to prevent corruption in his administration. He warned that if the striking officials do not resume work immediately, the government will find replacements.

The strike caused inconvenience to residents across the state as work at tehsil offices came to a halt, leaving many without essential property-related documents, such as fards (ownership records) and land registry copies. The state’s online portal for land records was also malfunctioning, causing further delays and confusion.

Ludhiana deputy commissioner Jitendra Jorwal said: “More than 80 registries were done on Tuesday across the district at different tehsil offices.”

Bathinda deputy commissioner Showkat Ahmad Parray said after revenue officials proceeded on mass casual leave, the state government issued instructions to rope in the kanungos, senior assistants and even the Punjab civil service (PCS) officers for smooth land registrations. Parray said 58 land registrations were completed by 4pm on Tuesday while work for another 15 was in progress.