E-Paper
Land records dept faces shortage of 1,000 surveyors
In Pune district alone, project works estimated to be worth over Rs4,000 crore are currently underway
With the land records and measurement department facing a crunch of nearly 1,000 land surveyors despite the state government having initiated the process for massive recruitment a year ago, land measurement work of nearly 1.03 lakh cases across the state is pending. The state government had sought applications for recruitment of around 1,000 land surveyors’ posts last year, and had received 47,000 applications. However, the recruitment process has been stopped as the state government’s approval is pending till date.
In Pune district alone, project works estimated to be worth over Rs4,000 crore are currently underway, with some projects still awaiting the state government’s approval while others awaiting government surveyors for completion of the task. The number of applications seeking government surveys have also increased exponentially in the district.
Land Records Workers’ Association secretary, Sriram Khirekar, said, “There is a complete shortage of surveyors to carry out land measurement tasks. It has affected the work of projects as well as common citizens. The recruitment has to be completed at the earliest, and the government must give its permission for recruitment at the earliest possible.”
According to the land records department, the current waiting period has risen to eight months to one year owing to the shortage of land surveyors. Plans are afoot to send surveyors with lighter workloads to places where there is a greater demand for surveyors.
In 2020, the land records department had completed the land survey of 165 villages in the state in just three years with the help of drones. The department has been conducting these surveys with the help of all deputy superintendents and surveyors in the respective districts.
