GUJRAT: The land revenue department has recommended patwar course for service centre officials (SCOs) who work as data entry operators at the Arazi Record Centres (ARCs) across Punjab whereas a fresh computer data entry training with renewed jobs at the ARCs has also been suggested for those patwaris who have graduation degree to tackle the issues related to service delivery, preservation of the old land record and meeting revenue collection targets.

Supporting the continuity of the patwari’s post that has proper knowledge and training of the revenue-related laws, the proposal has been sent to the member taxes, Board of Revenue, by the Gujrat Additional District Collector (Revenue) for further reforms in the working of filed staff such as patwaris, gardawars and naib tehsildar as well as the staff at ARCs.

Citing the practice being followed by revenue staff in Gujrat, the ADC wrote that since the SCOs would not go to examine the site before issuance of ownership document to any applicant or while inserting any new mutation, the sale-purchase deed at the registration branches could not be entertained until the performa bearing the patwari report on the site, location and condition of the property was not attached with it.

The letter said since the practice in Gujrat has minimised the risk of tax evasion, it can be spread to the entire province for maximum recovery of the taxes related to the transaction of properties.

The SCOs are neither trained nor bound to pay inspection visit to the site and whoever produces genuine transaction document without site report, the SCO would insert the fresh transaction as per the document produced to him which could cause a loss of revenue since the applicants usually get mentioned a plot in the property document but there can be a commercial, residential or industrial building at the site in question. Mentioning the exact condition can enhance the ratio of taxes.

So engaging the patwari who knows the nitty gritty of the field work in the entire procedure of the ARCs may reduce the ever-increasing workload at the computerised centers by giving access of the data to him so that he too can issue the ownership documents only for record purposes as the mutation powers may rest with the ARCs.

Such an access to the computerised data may also be enhanced up to tehsildar, naib tehsildar and gardawar level besides doubling the staff at the ARCs to facilitate the masses who usually have to wait long at the ARCs for the issuance of the ownership documents as well as for the mutation purposes.

Moreover, the issuance of fard for the bail purposes may also be made available at the offices of the deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners in every district.

Previously, the mutation of inheritance was easier in the manual record which has now been made a complicated procedure at the ARCs as the people have to visit various offices to get the job done.

When the computerisation of the land record was launched, two patwaris in every district were given training of computer and software to further train the remaining patwaris as master trainers. However, such training could not be given to them.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2019