Addl Chief Secy inspects Ludhiana tehsil office
Days after suspending Tehsildar Ranjit Singh on the charge of an “extremely serious lapse”, Additional Chief Secretary (ACS)-cum-Financial Commissioner Revenue (FCR) Anurag Verma on Monday came calling to the Ludhiana East tehsil office.
Verma had suspended the tehsildar on January 31 for registering property deeds of Jagraon while sitting at the Ludhiana East tehsil office, which he had termed as “an extremely serious lapse”.
Verma had also chargesheeted him for major punishment under Rule 8 of the Punjab Civil Services (Punishment and Appeal) Rules, 1970.
On his surprise visit, Verma checked the working at the tehsil office, met the visitors and ordered the district administration to ensure smooth, transparent, responsive, and accountable public delivery services at all public offices.
Besides inspecting the delivery of services, including the registration of property deeds, he also checked the functioning of CCTV cameras installed at the tehsil office.
Nearly 98 per cent of the CCTV cameras installed in sub-registrar/joint registrar offices across Punjab, including the Ludhiana east tehsil office, to monitor public-dealing works and check illegal practices in property registrations were found non-functional.
He had ordered all the CCTVs to be made functional by January 31.
Flanked by Deputy Commissioner Jitendra Jorwal, Verma also interacted with the public present the tehsil office and took feedback on the delivery of services, behaviour of the staff, and facilities available.
“Several issues cropped up during the visit and interaction, which were flagged for immediate resolution,” Verma told The Tribune.
He said the visit was aimed at taking a surprise view of the functioning of the tehsil offices, which register the maximum public footfall, and ensure accountable, responsive, and transparent public delivery services as mandated by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
Verma inspected the property registration records and instructed the officials to ensure that the mobile numbers of the buyers and the sellers must be mentioned on every registered document, which should be handed over immediately after the registration to the buyer.
He also enquired about the government fee structure followed at the tehsil office and directed that except the prescribed charges, any extra consideration charged from the public would be dealt with sternly.
He directed the officials to ensure proper cleanliness of the washrooms, seating, and drinking water arrangements for the visitors at the tehsil complex.
“This inspection is not meant for any fault-finding. It’s aimed at streamlining operations in the government offices as there is always a scope of improvement,” Verma said, while emphasising that all the officers must perform their duties honestly and diligently.
