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Work comes to standstill at 291 Ludhiana revenue circles
As many as 291 of the district’s 441 revenue circles (patwars) remained shut, leaving visitors in the lurch
With Punjab revenue officials on Friday suspending their additional charges, work came to a standstill at multiple offices.
As many as 291 of the district’s 441 revenue circles (patwars) remained shut, leaving visitors in the lurch. These included Noorpur Bet 1 and 2, Khaira Bet 2, Ladowal, Salempur, Ayali Kalan, Malakpur, Jainpur and Hambran among others.
The district has 115 regular patwaris and 35 are contractual who work at different revenue circles. The 150 patwaris then handle the work of 441 circles by undertaking additional charge.
Arun Sharma, a visitor to the revenue circle located on Hambran Road, said, “I came to the office to process a land transfer for my property in Ayali Kalan village, but failed to get the work done as an officer designated for work refused the same due to ongoing suspension of work.”
“I urge the state government to either appoint new patwaris or resolve the issues with the current ones because this situation is causing multiple problems for the people,” he added.
Another visitor, Gagandeep Singh, who came in not knowing about the developments said, “I visited the patwar circle in Khaira Bet, but there was no official available at the office. Some junior employees there informed me about the patwaris suspending work. I had come to review some land documents in Khaira Bet because our client had submitted them to the bank for a loan application. If this continues, people will face significant losses and inconveniences.”
Varinder Sharma, the district president of the Patwar Union, meanwhile, said, “We are continuing work in our designated revenue circles. For instance, I am stationed at Bagga Khurd, but also have additional responsibilities for two more circles, and will not work for additional circles.”
“We will continue to work in this manner until the state government addresses our demands,” he added,
The revenue officers under the banner of Revenue Patwar Union had earlier called for a strike after a registration of corruption cases against a patwari and a kanungo in Sangrur district few days ago.
Following the announcement of East Punjab Essential Services (Maintenance) Act (EPESMA) invoked in Punjab, by the chief minister Bhagwant Mann till October 31, 2023, revenue officials stepped out to mark their disinterest in taking additional charge of other circles.
