If Collectors Fail To Make Patwaris Work, They Have No Right To Be Collectors, Says Chief Secretary Ashok Barnwal

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Chief Secretary Ashok Barnwal has rounded on the collectors for falling behind on property registration work under the Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas (SVAMITVA) scheme.

In a video conferencing on Thursday, he directed them either to complete the work or to act against the Patwaris. Collectors remain the top-rank officers in districts, but their failure to carry out a government's scheme does not speak well of them, Barnwal said.

Doing registry remains part of the revenue department, and the collectors head the revenue department in districts, yet they have failed to carry out a piece of work, he said.

If the collectors cannot get a small piece of work done through Patwaris, they have no right to be collectors, Barnwal said.

''What kind of officers are you! Patwaris raise slogans against you standing outside your office,'' Barnwal said.

At the outset, the chief secretary wanted to know from the collectors whether they had any doubt about the SVAMITVA scheme.

Afterwards, a few collectors spoke about the difficulties coming in their way in implementing the scheme.

The collectors said that together with Patwaris, Tehsilders also stayed away from doing registration work.

Collectors informed the chief secretary that 'sale deed' was written in the documents, and the Patwaris were referred to as 'sellers'. The Tehsilders and Patwaris objected to these words in the documents.

Barnwal, however, said those had been the issues before the implementation of the scheme.

As the government has launched a scheme, the collectors must implement it, he said.

He wanted to know from the collectors how Patwaris could get their salaries without doing work.

CS expresses anger at divisional commissioners

Chief Secretary Ashok Barnwal also expressed anger at the divisional commissioners.

Barnwal said he sought information from the divisional commissioners about the implementation of the scheme and the action against the Patwaris, but only one of them had sent the required feedback.