*DCs, ACRs, SDMs asked to ensure compliance
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Mar 14: Notwithstanding the fact that incidents of encroachments on State land backed with the illegal entries in the revenue records especially in Khasra Girdawari have resulted in seriously harmful repercussions, majority of the revenue officers and officials are paying scant attention towards preparation, preservation and maintenance of land records that too right under the nose of the respective Deputy Commissioners.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that the first and foremost duty of every revenue officer and official is the preparation, preservation and maintenance of land records and conduct/ writing of Girdawari is the first step in this direction. It is because of this reason that harvest inspection/Girdawari is conducted with the objective to collect accurate information regarding details and condition of crops, changes in rights, rents and possession of land and amendments required in the village map.
The detailed procedure of conducting harvest inspection is enshrined in Standing Order No.22, which is of utmost significance in land management and is also the core element of revenue administration. The revenue officers and officials are required to prepare Khasra Girdawari with utmost care and with great sense of responsibility.
Unfortunately, the provisions of the Standing Order No.22 are continued to be observed in breach than in compliance as a result of which an increasing tendency has arisen to tamper with the records, which ultimately creates adverse impact on the revenue administration, sources said while disclosing that keeping all these aspects in mind the Financial Commissioner Revenue on March 25, 2011 had issued a detailed circular regarding conduct of Girdawari.
At that time it was observed that harvest inspections were not being conducted as per the provisions of Standing Order No.22 and stress was laid that unauthorized possession over the State land will not be recorded by the Patwari concerned and he will not incorporate any change in the Girdawari.
However, the instructions are not being implemented on ground effectively despite the fact that Deputy Commissioners were directed to evolve a suitable mechanism to supervise and monitor the implementation of these instructions at each level of revenue hierarchy. “Still majority of the Patwaris are either not doing Girdawari at all or doing so by sitting in tehsil/niabat headquarters, Dak Bungalows and public offices instead of paying visits to the villages”, sources said.
Taking serious note of non-compliance to the instructions issued in 2011, the Financial Commissioner Revenue, Pramod Jain has now asked all the Deputy Commissioners to ensure strict implementation of guidelines and personally supervise and monitor the harvest inspection (Girdawari) as per Rule 3 of Standing Order No.22 and submit weekly reports to the office of Financial Commissioner Revenue.
“It seems that the instructions issued earlier are not being implemented on the ground effectively as there is nothing on record which could reflect that the meetings of the revenue officers are being conducted or any flying squad has been constituted by the Divisional Commissioners”, the communication of the Financial Commissioner Revenue said, adding “it was enjoined upon the Deputy Commissioners to submit the weekly returns showing number of cases where encroachments were removed but no such reports have been received from any of the Deputy Commissioners”.
The Deputy Commissio-ners have been explicitly told to ensure that Patwaris visit each field personally in presence of village Lambardar and Chowkidar and record inspection accurately mentioning changes in rights and possession of land. “No entry of encroachment on State land shall be recorded and Patwari should make a list of the encroachers on the State land and submit the same to the Tehsildar for eviction”, read the instructions.
According to the instructions, all the changes noticed and recorded will have to be verified 100% by Girdawar Qanoogos, 50% by the Naib Tehsildars, 25% by the Tehsildars, 10% by the Assistant Commissioners/Sub-Divisional Magistrates and 5% by the Deputy Commissioners.
Tehsildars have been directed to initiate action against those who have affected such changes and Deputy Commissioners will organize meeting of revenue officers to convey in simple, clear and unambiguous manner the directions and their implementation mechanism.
Similar meetings would be conducted by Tehsildars with field staff and Deputy Commissioners and Tehsildars would personally ensure the implementation of guidelines in toto. They will also ensure that due supervision and monitoring take place at all levels in their jurisdiction and that the Fard Raftar Girdawari written in advance and implemented in full.
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