Ambala: Taking a big action against corruption, the Haryana government has released a list of 370 revenue department patwaris in the state accused of taking bribes in lieu of measuring land, registering mutation, correcting government records of land, getting maps passed and other services. The government has identified 170 of these patwaris who have hired their assistants for corruption. As such all the district Deputy Commissioners have been directed to take action in the next 15 days and send the report to the headquarters. Sources reveal, corruption is at the peak in most of the government offices, especially in ‘tehsil’ offices across the state where ‘Suvidha Shulk’ is ruling all over in the state. According to the information, the ruling state government has decided to wipe out corruption in government offices across the state and in the next phase, registry clerks, Naib and Tehsildars as well as middlemen ruling in most of the government offices are also on target.
Haryana government has released a list of 370 Patwaris working under the Revenue Department, who have been identified as involved in corruption, usually collecting money from the concerned people in lieu of measuring land in villages, registering mutation, correcting government records of land and getting maps passed. The state government has also identified 170 Patwaris among these 370, who have kept assistants in front of them for these works and collecting the amount of corruption. Information reveals, such practices have been going on in the revenue department since a long time and this is the first time that the state government has released a list of corrupt employees on such a large scale, has created panic in all the tehsils of the state. The rest of the employees working in the tehsils fear that when the state government has taken a drastic step to release the list of corrupt Patwaris, then sooner or later their turn may also come.
The people across the state have appreciated this initiative of Chief Minister Naib Singh Saini and Revenue and Disaster Minister Vipul Goyal, being seen as a surgical strike on corrupt government departments. Information reveals that the Additional Chief Secretary of Revenue and Disaster Management Department Anurag Rastogi has sent a list of 370 corrupt Patwaris and their 170 Assistants along with their names to all the District Deputy Commissioners allegedly involved in corruption in the state.
In this list, along with the names of Patwaris and their Assistants along with their working area. All the District Deputy Commissioners have been asked to seek answers from these corrupt employees and send the action taken in this regard to the government within 15 days. According to the list prepared by the Haryana government, the highest corruption is in Kaithal and Sonipat districts. The names of 46 Patwaris and their seven associates of Kaithal are in the list. The names of 41 Patwaris and 15 associates are in Sonipat.
While talking to media persons, the Chief Minister said that recently, the government has suspended three tehsildars and this campaign against corruption will continue in future as well. Meanwhile, Jaiveer Singh Chahal, President Patwari Association Haryana said, ” This action of the Haryana government is completely wrong and we oppose it as the names cannot be made public like this. It should be disclosed on the basis of which agency’s report this list has been prepared and what evidence is there. If even a few are corrupt, it is not right to implicate the rest. We will make a big decision soon.”
According to information, the names of corrupt Patwaris have been released by the CID after spending a long time in the field. The amount demanded by the Patwaris for routine work and the names of their associates was also mentioned.
According to a government spokesperson, action is sure to be taken against these Patwaris as well as their associates involved in illegal practice, if involvement in corruption is confirmed action can be taken under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988. If the allegation is proved, there is provision of four to 20 years of imprisonment along with loss of job. According to legal experts, such lists cannot be released before corruption is proven, but the department is claiming solid evidence.
Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Vipul Goyal has indicated that surgical strikes can be done by CM Saini in the tehsils of the state as well. There will be some tehsil and sub-tehsil where there is no corruption. The next big action will be taken against the registry clerks, then the rest of the staff and then the turn of Tehsildars and Naib Tehsildars will come.
