NGOs hold protest in Jalandhar against strike by patwaris across Punjab

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Jalandhar, May 9

Members of different NGOs, civil society and social workers led by Prof MP Singh, president of NGO-Mission 6213 on Monday held a protest outside the District Administrative Complex (DAC) and handed over a memorandum to DC Ghanshyam Thori for Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann demanding stringent action against Malerkotla patwari booked by the Vigilance Bureau in a corruption case.

They also demanded action against those patwaris who had gone on a strike till May 15, saying that instead of raising voice against corruption, the members of the District Revenue Kanungo Association and the Revenue Patwari Union were supporting their colleague, who has been booked under corruption charges.

Talking to Jalandhar Tribune, Prof MP Singh said a case was registered against Didar Singh Chhokar (Malerkotla patwari) by the VB after he was allegedly found taking Rs 10,000 bribe for mutation of a property. Besides, the VB had also recovered 33 registries of various properties worth Rs 1.77 crore from his possession.

“The VB is investigating the matter, his assets are being verified but the patwari and kanungo associations are unnecessarily trying to build pressure on the government by going on mass leave and causing inconvenience to the residents,” he said.

He further said the ongoing strike of patwaris and kanungos was not only affecting administrative work, but also causing a loss to the state exchequer. “The government should intervene and take strict action against all those on strike and interfering in VB’s inquiry,” he added.

Surinder Saini of the Jalandhar Welfare Society said: “The government should come up with some mechanism so that public work is not hampered whenever the government employees go on strike.” He further added that the government should also release appointment letters of selected candidates for the post of patwaris. He said the candidates are running from pillar to post seeking their joining letters, but the government was not paying attention. “If the deserving candidates are given the chance to serve the public, not only would corruption go down, there will also be improvement in public services.

The NGOs which participated in the protest include Mission 6213, Jalandhar Welfare Society, Baba Deep Singh Ji Sewa Mission, Jhansi Ki Rani Manch, Fly Udaan Zindagi trust, Anmol NGO and Chitra NGO Punjab Chapter.

67% posts vacant in Jalandhar

In conversation with Jalandhar Tribune, the candidates selected for the post of patwaris said there were only about 1,700 patwaris working on 4,716 post of patwaris across the state. They said in Jalandhar too, 67 per cent of posts were lying vacant.