People face hardship as patwaris, kanungos go on strike in Karnal
Protest was against suspension of six patwaris on the order of CM in connection with verification of crop damage on e-Kshatipurti portal
People, who came to Patwar Bhawan in the city for their revenue-related work, had to face inconvenience on Friday as patwaris and kanungos across the district observed a one-day strike. They also staged dharna outside the Mini-Secretariat in protest against the suspension of six patwaris on the order of Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini in connection with the verification of crop damage on the e-Kshatipurti portal.
People had to return disappointed after seeing that no official was on duty. “I came here for some revenue-related work, but could not meet the patwari and had to go back,” said Kamal, a local resident.
Similarly, Naresh Kumar, a resident, said he was unaware of the strike and had to return without work as no one was there at the office.
Meanwhile, patwaris and kanungos assembled at Sector 12 and staged a dharna outside the Mini-Secretariat, where they raised slogans against the government over the suspension of the six patwaris. The protest was organised under the banner of the Revenue Patwari and Kanungo Association, Haryana.
The association also warned that if their demands were not met, they would go on a three-day strike from February 2 to 4.
Kashmir Singh, president of the Karnal Patwari and Kanungo Association, said the six patwaris were suspended on the orders of the CM after it was found that the same photographs had been uploaded multiple times against different khasra numbers during the crop damage verification.
He claimed that this practice was not limited to a few cases but was followed at various administrative levels across the state due to practical difficulties. “Physically visiting each khasra number and uploading separate photographs for every field was not feasible in many cases, especially during large-scale crop damage assessments in flood-affected areas,” he said.
He further said that they had earlier protested at the district level and handed over a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioners across the state on December 8. The association also sought time to present its case before the CM, but nothing was done, brewing resentment among them. Later, they had also held a meeting on January 15 in Jind and decided to hold a one-day strike on January 30.
“We request the government to resolve the issue and revoke the suspension of these patwaris,” he demanded.
