GUJRAT: The Punjab Board of Revenue (BoR) has finally abolished all posts created for the settlement of land record in three districts of province, including Gujrat, Lahore and Rawalpindi, after settlement operations in these districts were wound up.

Around a month ago, the government had announced Aug 31 as the deadline to wind up all the settlement operations in these districts, and the settlement staff recruited on contractual basis was asked to report to the Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD) in Lahore.

However, the Gujrat deputy commissioner (DC) had sought some time to get completed the documentation of settlement operation, as official sources said that still a large number of documents on the revenue record register had to be signed either by the settlement officer or the extra settlement officers on the tehsil level -- for which three to six more months were required.

The administration had also recommended adjusting some contractual staff of the settlement section in the revenue department and other branches of the DC’s office on regular basis, but the BoR and Punjab government rejected both the proposals and directed the staff concerned to leave the charge from Gujrat.

The sources added that the BoR had asked the contractual staff to at least report to the department concerned first and then they might be adjusted against vacant posts in their respective districts later as per recommendations of the district administration.

Around 120 staffers -- mostly patwaris of the Gujrat settlement branch -- reported to the S&GAD on Monday however they as well as the local administration were making efforts to hire their services in Gujrat.

The settlement operations had been launched by orders of the then chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi in 2002 and the operation in Gujrat had to be completed within five years however it took almost 16 years to wind it up.

In 2014, the then district coordination officer Liaquat Ali Chattha had also declared the settlement operations as completed when EASOs and tehsildars (settlement) in three tehsils had been transferred and only a settlement officer at the district level remained functional however now all the seats in that branch have been abolished.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2018