Revenue officials threaten to hold protest

MOHALI: Six days after the naib tehsildar-cum-joint sub-registrar of Zirakpur was suspended and an inquiry started against two sub registrars of Ludhiana and Hoshiarpur, Punjab revenue officers association came out against the state government and threatened protest, citing ambiguity in instructions on issuing no-objection certificates (NOCs) for land registration.

In a representation to the state government on Monday, the association stated that there are a lot of contradictory instructions, which create hassles for the revenue officers as well as the common man. They said that there is no clarity on which land requires NOC, what is the procedure for issuing NOCs and registration if NOC is not produced.

On May 10, Zirakpur naib tehsildar-cum-joint registrar Harminder Singh was suspended for executing illegal registries of unauthorised colonies.

Gurdev Singh Dham, president of revenue officers’ body, said the department has issued different sets of instructions, which leads to a lot of confusion.

General secretary Sukhcharan Singh Channi said, “Residential colonies are to be regulated, approved, and regularised by housing departments i.e. Punjab Urban Development Authority or municipal corporations but these have failed to control mushrooming of illegal colonies. Moreover, they try to shift the blame on the revenue department.”

The association stated that general public and registration officers have practically no way of knowing whether the plot they are going to purchase or register is part of a legal or illegal colony as the existing revenue records, laws, and registration process is not designed for this purpose.

The association said that the recent suspension of an officer and inquiry against two others has created fear in the minds of department officials, and they will be forced to resort to protest, if clarity isn’t brought in.