Overcoming man power deficit

17/09/2018

The land settlement operation, which was set into motion in Jammu and Kashmir several decades back, is still going on at snail's pace and no time-frame can be specified for its completion as the Government has failed to empower Regional Directors of Land Records and Surveys, the posts which were created with the sole objective of giving necessary impetus to this exercise over five years back.This has clearly established that there is no attention at any level in the Government to make the land record straight in order to avoid scams and litigations, which otherwise are at alarming level in the length and breadth of the State. There was not a bit of progress on the land settlement exercise, which was started several decades ago, the State Government in the month of August 2013 gave nod to the reorganization of the Settlement Organization and accordingly seven posts of Regional Directors of Land Records and Surveys were created with the sole objective of giving necessary impetus to the settlement exercise across the State and to coordinate modernization of land record under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
In Jammu four posts of Regional Directors were created one each for Jammu-Samba-Kathua districts, Rajouri-Poonch districts, Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban districts and Udhampur-Reasi districts. Similarly, three such posts were created in Kashmir valley-one each for Baramulla-Bandipora-Kupwara districts, Srinagar-Budgam-Ganderbal districts and Anantnag-Kulgam-Shopian-Pulwama districts. For Leh and Kargil districts, respective Additional Deputy Commissioners were designated as Regional Directors to look after the settlement operation. However, before these Regional Directors could start giving necessary impetus to the land settlement exercise, they were divested of the manpower in 2014 by diverting the same to make functional the newly created administrative units. Since then all the Regional Directors are functioning with skeleton manpower that too after making internal arrangements. Interestingly, these Regional Directors have not been provided own infrastructure in the shape of office complex, residential quarters, sufficient funds and other paraphernalia. Instead of empowering the Regional Directors for having jurisdiction more than that of the Collector of any district in the State, the Government has intentionally rendered these posts as insignificant and for want of required facilities and manpower at their disposal all the Regional Directors are dependent on other agencies and are finding it difficult to perform the duties highlighted at the time of creation of these posts.
Further non-seriousness of the Government can be gauged from the fact that these posts remain vacant for several months thereby hampering the settlement operation and extension of necessary assistance to the agency engaged for modernization of land record, sources said while disclosing that at present the posts of Regional Directors of Land Records and Surveys of Rajouri-Poonch and Srinagar-Budgam-Ganderbal districts are lying vacant and the Regional Director of Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban has been given the additional charge of the Additional District Development Commissioner of one district. It is pity that instead of empowering the Regional Directors the Government has created an impression that these posts are meant for giving punishment posting to any officer as such nobody wants to stay on these posts for longer period of time. The non-serious approach towards settlement exercise has also created an impression that Government doesn't want to bring an end to land scams and litigations, which otherwise remain at alarming level in the length and breadth of State.

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