Shiv Kumar Padha
According to an old wise saying, ‘Haathon Se Lagayee Gaanth Kayeen Bar Daanton Se Kholni Padti Hain’, means knots tied by the hands are untied,many times, by teeth. These days the news about the forcible retrieval of lacs of acres encroached land from the occupation of none other than the powerful, influential politicians and the bureaucrats, are becoming head lines of the electronic as well of the print media. In order to evacuate the encroached land from the occupation of the powerful grabbers the entire administration has to face the wrath of the common man, being used as shield, to exert pressure on the LG and administration with a threat and warning of serious consequences.
Not to talk of the common man, whose skin is not touched at all, the terrorists have also plunged into the game in order to show their solidarity with their sympathizers and financiers. Amidst the sloganeering, stone pelting the administration is exhibiting the exemplary courage and professionalism in tackling the challenging situation. Retrieving lakhs of acres state as well as Kahcherai land, occupied under the pretext of so called Roshani act, from the occupation of the Ex Chief Ministers, Deputy Chief Ministers, MLAs and bureaucrats, tantamount to freeing the land from the foreign invaders.
The nefarious plans and objective of allotment of the state and Kahcherai land to particular community of the state was aimed at destabilizing the demography of the erstwhile peaceful Jammu and Kashmir state.
The people of the state want to know about the agency or department with whose connivance the process of illegal occupation of the state land was facilitated whereby lacs of acres of state land was doled out to the influential and powerful politicians and the bureaucrats. The UT government can’t escape from the responsibility of this lapse and delay in taking the action against the erring departments and the officers responsible for the offence.
The time has come to fix the accountability of the department responsible for the management of the land record, its registration and the mutation. The farmers, land owners have been bearing the brunt of the excesses of the one omnipotent department since long. The article refers to those few black sheep in the revenue department, from a chowkidar to the higher ranks, who, due to their work culture, non co operative attitude towards the masses and covetous nature, have not only earned a bad name for their honest counterparts in the department but have brought the prestige of the whole revenue department and the government down to its lowermost ebb.
But for the favours of the few employees of the revenue department nobody can encroach upon an inch of state and Kahcherai land under any pretext.
The importance of the revenue department can be gauged by an incidence where one man from nomads clan, feeling pleased over the favors of a Tehsildar, prayed to God for his (Tehsildar’s) promotion to the post of a Patwari because the post of Patwari is considered as the goldmine and Patwari a hen which lays a golden egg. This is the only reason why do majority of the revenue employees like Patwaris, Girdawrs and Tehsildars, posted in the cities and towns, where the costs of the land and that of property is high, often forego their promotions. The revenue department has been provided with honey and venom in the mouth and sting at the back.
Whether it is a matter of maintaining revenue and land record, survey of the land and crops, issuance of the authenticated copies of revenue documents like mutations, Khasra Girdawaris, assessment of the losses as a result of natural disaster, preparation and disbursement of relief, land compensations, issuance of income, cast, RBA, PRC, marriage certificate, inheritance certificates, conversion of one kind of land into other, encouraging and legalizing the encroachments are some of the noble jobs entrusted to the revenue department where their action, whatsoever, is justified and endorsed by their senior officers without giving any second thought.
There seems no ombudsman to check these few black sheep who are like a blot on the image of the whole department. Majority of such elements in the department charge huge amount for those services which they are bound to provide to the clients as a part of their duty free of cost.
The poor clients fall prey to their arrogant and covetous behavior. The decisions of majority of the revenue officers are partial and biased where the beam of the balance always tilts towards the person having the silver key. The wrong and prejudiced decisions of the revenue department often result into enmity between the relations, families and even between the adjacent Hamlets which, many times end with bloody disputes kidnappings and extortions. Apparently these persons look like ordinary human beings who laugh, smile, share the jokes and sufferings with each other but the real face behind the person gets exposed the moment you ask them for the services you need as a matter of right. They are never moved rather turn their deaf ears towards the problems and sufferings of the people even if they beseech, beg, implore and beg unless they are paid for the services they have been asked to provide. In majority of the cases the decisions, of the revenue department, which are purely based upon the facts and the merits, provide solace to both the parties whereas the partial, biased decisions based upon unethical and other considerations have always been resulting into infinite criminal and the civil litigations every year with the result the courts of the country are over burdened with such cases which will take centuries for their disposals. Many generations of the litigant families have breathed their last with the hope of getting justice during their life time. Many villages, clans, families have been wiped out from the earth due to the enmity which is nothing but outcome of someone sided and biased decisions of the Revenue Department. It will be the greatest contributions of the revenue department if they start taking pity on the poor and the innocent craving for the justice, by delivering the best from themselves so that the judiciary is not overburdened by the cases related with the land disputes which can be easily decided amicably by the society, Panchayats and other philanthropist organization. Let us resolve to work honestly and discourage the menace of litigations which is the outcome of the mental health and covetous attitude of some of the black sheep in the revenue department so that the department can regain the same heights and prestige which they have lost due to the fault of the few.