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| People resent govt move to transfer land registration powers | | Complete shutdown on bar's call | | Bharat Bhushan
Jammu, Dec 20: As majority people feared that the controversial decision of transferring land registration work from judiciary to revenue department would give rise to corruption and land scams in the state, they today joined hands against the NC-Congress government and observed a complete shutdown.
The day-long bandh gave government the message that people were one on this issue, and wanted immediate roll-back of its decision. All shops and other business establishments, including the ones in peripheral areas, were closed.
The shutdown was purely voluntary as lawyers were not seen anywhere, forcing closure of markets. Minibus operators union and other transport unions also showed solidarity with the strikers by keeping passenger vehicles off the roads.
The bandh was observed by the people on the call of bar association to resent the government move, which, they said, was arbitrary and meaningless.
Everyone, including the bar members, held the view that the government decision of transferring land registration work from judiciary to revenue department was wrong. It was easy to bribe a revenue official for getting an illegal work done but the land grabbers would not even dare to approach a judge for the purpose, the bar felt.
Revenue department has been termed as the most corrupt of all government departments in the state. More than 20 patwaris and other revenue officials were this year either caught by state vigilance organisation red handed while accepting bribe from complainants, or booked for possessing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.
All these tainted officials were found involved in doing all sorts of wrong things by misusing their official positions. They were found involved in the issuance of the fard -- a revenue document -- for more than one time against the same piece of land, changing the titles of lands to benefit land grabbers and extorting money from poor farmers and others by blackmailing them.
In the infamous Birpur land scam, seniormost revenue officials were booked. But no judge in the state has ever been found involved in such unlawful activities. In fact, judges have done their lawful duty by punishing the accused involved in land scams.
It is an open secret that patwaris take money as bribe from anyone who approaches them for the issuance of a fard, or any other revenue document.
Large amounts of money are spent by patwaris, naib-tehsildars and others in the revenue department to manage postings at lucrative places. The money is allegedly charged by those who are at the helm of affairs. Even a big-wig's wife was alleged to be part of the racket.
The bar-sponsored bandh was held just and meaningful by the people who were up in arms against the government while asking it to withdraw its decision.
A minister would not dare to call a judge for the registration of a land, which did not have a clear title, but he could direct revenue staff to do the needful for him, the bar felt.
"If the government transfers land registration work to revenue department, it would only lead to chaos and give birth to large scale corruption," said Pritam Singh of Kachi Chawni.
"Would it be easy to get the land registered from revenue department without greasing the palms of officials?" he asked.
There were patwaris and other big sharks who would not do people's work without gobbling up money, said Romesh Gupta, a school teacher.
Those, who defended this government move, could either be land grabbers, or the
yes men of the concerned minister, he asserted.
Sunil Kumar of Panjtirthi said though it were the lawyers who were to be directly benefitted from the strike, people supported their cause because the transfer of land registration work to revenue department would have a bad effect on the society. |
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