Under VB lens, revenue officers to go on mass leave on March 3

Miffed over Vigilance inquiries against tehsildars, the Punjab Revenue Officers Association has announced that its members will go on a mass casual leave on March 3.

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In a circular issued by the association, it is alleged that a false narrative was being created about the working of tehsildars, putting their reputation at stake.

Among those who are facing inquiries are Tapa tehsildar Sukhcharan S Channi, who is also the president of the association. He was arrested for graft in November. Jagsir Singh Saran, Sub-Registrar, Ludhiana West, too has been booked by the VB. The services of two tehsildars — Ranjit Singh of Jagraon and Lakhwinder Singh of Dera Baba Nanak — have been suspended.

The association had informed the members to strike work from Friday afternoon. However, as some tehsildars had already resumed work post lunch time and there was a huge rush of applicants, they could not respond to the strike call. Since Saturday and Sunday are holidays in the tehsil, the tehsildars would now go on leave on Monday.

Revenue officers have threatened that they would abstain from the property registration work till the government acceded to their demand. If that happens, it can cause a huge loss to the state exchequer.

Tehsildars alleged that the tehsils were being repeatedly checked. In Mansa, even revenue records were seized. The association demanded that the suspension orders of tehsildars be revoked or else they would intensify their protest.