REVENUE DEPARTMENT TO CONDUCT SERIES OF CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAMS

Chandigarh, January 13:

Aiming to hone the skills of revenue officers in the revenue laws and procedures, the State Revenue Department is to facilitate a series of capacity building programs for them, informed Financial Commissioner Revenue, Mrs Vinni Mahajan.

The first in the series is a Special One Day Session on passing “Speaking Orders” slated for January 15, 2018 in MGSIPA campus. As many as 50 IAS and PCS Officers are expected to join the session. “The subjects being handled by revenue officers are legal and complex. They involve legal nuances and awareness of various pronouncements. So, this session may amount to reducing appellate work and lessening the element of arbitrariness in the court proceedings”, opined FCR.

The orders passed by the revenue officers are expected to be detailed orders citing merits and demerits of the case; the verdict is expected to be the outcome of proper weighing of pros & cons, it must “stand up to the test of judicial scrutiny,” added Mr. N.S. Sangha, Advisor, Punjab Land Records Society.

Welcoming the initative, Mr. Gurdev Singh, President Revenue Officers Association said “Revenue Officers Association supports the measure and would facilitate maximum participation in it.”

Further, in the itinerary of the Revenue department is a Special Two Week Capacity Building Program for the District Revenue Officers (DROs). They would be developed as Master Trainers for their subordinates and cascade their experiences to Naib Tehsildars, who in turn will train the Kanungos. Similar refresher course would be facilitated jointly by academicians and practitioners for the Tehsildars as well.

It is pertinent to mention that since May 2017 there is already an ongoing one year training of 950 newly inducted Patwaris in 16 different places in the state. This field training will culminate with intensive 3 week training by Director Lands Records in State Patwar Training School, Jalandhar. The centralized training is expected to start with immediate effect batch-wise and will cover all the newly inducted Patwaris within a period of 4 months. “Patwaris are the backbone of Revenue Department. This rigorous training before they commence work as regular Patwaris would go a long way in strengthening the department,” observed FCR.