No more lobbying for transfers in rev dept

 Media Coverage  |  25-12-2024

Bawankule visits Lokmat Bhavan, unveils roadmap for graft-free dept

Lokmat News Network/Nagpur

Maharashtra revenue minister and BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule announced on Tuesday that naib tehsildar, tehsildar or sub-divisional officers would no longer be required to run to the secretariat or lobby for transfers. All transfers would now be effected systematically and transparently in order to check corruption in the transfer process.

Bawankule paid a courtesy visit to Lokmat Bhavan for the first time after taking charge of the revenue ministry on Tuesday. He was accompanied by his media advisor Raghunath Pande. The chairman of editorial board of Lokmat Media Group and former member of Rajya Sabha Dr Vijay Darda welcomed him at the Lokmat office.

Bawankule said for the first time, the revenue department, which is considered the second most important, has been entrusted to a leader from Vidarbha. He called it a historic opportunity for him. Priority would be given to works related to the transfers of officers, sand auctions and registration of documents. Under the guidance of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, efforts would be made to streamline the functioning of the department. He admitted that the issue of demanding money for transfers has always remained a topic of discussion with accusations and counter-accusations. He emphasised that demanding and accepting money for transfers erodes administrative control and to address this, a new transparent policy would be implemented.

Eliminating middlemen, curbing corruption

Bawankule addressed the issue of corruption in document registration offices, where brokers exploit people and land mafias flourish. He proposed discussing solutions with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, including the possibility of enabling property and land document registration at any office location. The Karnataka government has developed an app for such purposes and the same would be studied. On December 27, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to launch a digital ownership campaign, which would help in property digitisation and streamline other related processes, making them more accessible to the people.

Freeing sand from mafia control

Maharashtra revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule during an interaction with chairman of editorial board of Lokmat Media Group and former member of Rajya Sabha Dr Vijay Darda at Lokmat Bhavan in Nagpur on Tuesday.

Bawankule stated that certain officers providing protection to specific suppliers have ’empowered’ sand mafias, leading to increased violence, including attacks on officials.

Bawankule vowed to curb such activities and ensure that sand required for construction is supplied through government mechanisms at regulated rates.

The administration would adopt recommendations from a committee of senior officials, including the Nashik divisional commissioner, to tackle these issues effectively, he said.

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