Gurugram: The Haryana government has sent a list of 370 patwaris (administrative officers responsible for maintaining land records in villages) to the deputy commissioners for initiating action against them within 15 days for their alleged irregularities.
Apart from these patwaris working in various districts, a list of 170 assistants, appointed and funded by an equal number of patwari, has been submitted to the deputy commissioners (DCs). These assistants, according to the government, not only acted as conduits between the patwaris and the public but also collected corruption money on behalf of the patwaris in exchange for routine services such as property registrations, issuance of land records, and other official procedures.
Investigation has highlighted the extent to which these patwaris exploited their positions of authority, creating a parallel system that prioritises personal gain over public service, reads a government communication.
The DCs were directed to submit an ‘implementation report’ within 15 days of receiving the missive issued 14 January.
Citizens have long complained about delays and irregularities in accessing basic services, with this network of assistants allegedly facilitating faster service at a price, it added.
Haryana Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management Vipul Goel told The Print that the state government ordered a survey of patwaris following which the list was prepared after receiving a raft of corruption complaints.
“The government’s action would send across a positive message among people as well as to the honest officials who want to perform their duties honestly and serve as a lesson for the corrupts,” Goel said.
The minister explained that the government resolved to root out corruption at every level, not just patwaris. “We are committed to rooting out corruption and ensuring transparency. Strict action will be taken against those found guilty, including suspension, termination, and legal proceedings,” he added.
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‘Confidential’ letter
In the letter marked ‘confidential’ and ‘very important’, the financial commissioner and additional chief secretary of the revenue and disaster management department said that it had come to the government’s notice that 370 ‘corrupt’ patwaris were identified in the revenue department.
It also mentioned about 170 individuals who were hired by these patwaris.
Surprisingly, the list also mentions the caste of each individual patwari after their names.
“These patwaris engage in corruption under the pretext of tasks such as land partitioning, measurements, mutations, record corrections, and map preparation. The private individuals hired as assistants also act as their agents in corrupt practices,” said the communication originally written in Hindi.
Since the public is required to approach patwaris for their work, their corrupt practices adversely affect the government’s image, it added.
The maximum number of such patwaris and their assistants—46 and 7—is from Kaithal district. Next in the list is Sonipat (41 patwaris and 15 assistants), Mahendragarh (36 and 20), Gurugram (27 and 26), Fatehabad (25 and 4), Kurukshetra (23 and 4), and Jhajjar (20 and 7) among others.
In contrast, Panchkula is the only district where there was no such complaint.
An office bearer of the patwari union complained that the patwaris were wrongly singled out. “Haryana has 2,691 patwar circles (groups of villages looked after by a patwari) for 7,083 revenue circles corresponding to villages. Against this, we have just 1,370 patwaris with the remaining posts vacant. Each of us is overburdened with the charge of two or more patwar circles. Now, the government has identified nearly one-third of the patwaris as corrupt and recommended action,” the officer bearer said, adding that this action would only make functioning harder.
Yudhbir Singh Khyalia, a former IAS officer, too, felt it was wrong to target patwaris alone given their role in the government machinery to provide services to the people.
At the same time, he said that there was nothing surprising about the findings as these ‘corrupt’ patwaris were part of a system which itself was seeped in irregularities.
“I have no qualms in saying that there is a complete commercialisation of government services in Haryana. Barring a few, a majority of government employees are minting money in return for providing government services to the people,” Khyalia told The Print.
“The government must admit that corruption is percolating from top to the bottom and if it was serious about checking it, holistic efforts were needed to check it at all levels, not just at the level of the patwaris,” said the former civil servant who retired as commissioner in the Haryana government.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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