|
|
The protesters in front of the land and revenue office in Ranchi on Thursday. Picture by Hardeep Singh
|
College student Amandeep Ram may just miss a government scholarship meant for poor students. Amandeep visited the Ranchi district office of the land and revenue department for the fourth time on Thursday to get an income certificate, only to return empty-handed, thanks to an ongoing strike by around 2,000 circle inspectors and surveyors that entered its 27th day.
“I need to produce the income certificate to get the scholarship given to poor students under a welfare scheme of the state government. If I am not able to submit the certificate at my college by September 30, I will not be eligible for the scholarship,” said a dejected Amandeep.
Several others, who had come to the office on Circular Road in the heart of the state capital to collect caste and income certificates besides carrying out mutation of land and others works, shared Amandeep’s plight.
“I had come to get a residential certificate that will help me bag a job on compensatory grounds at Central Reserve Police Force. But I am going back without the certificate just like on earlier three occasions as the staff are not working,” complained Ravi Amul Kispotta, a resident of Bara Ghaghra in Doranda.
A second-year intermediate student of Doranda College and resident of Kalyanpur in Hatia, Ashyani Kumari said she had spent more than Rs 400 for coming to the office of the circle inspector. “I need a caste certificate to fill the form for a government job but despite making four attempts in the past 25 days, I failed to get it. Government employees are least bothered about our problems,” she said.
Circle inspectors and surveyors have been on the strike since September 1 in support of their 10-point charter of demands, which include promotion of revenue employees to circle inspectors and promotion of circle inspectors to assistant settlement officers within a month, constitution of a separate service cadre for revenue service and a service code for circle inspectors.
Secretary of Jharkhand Rajya Rajaswa Seva Sangh Harendra Sinha admitted that the common people were bearing the major brunt of the strike, but did not say when it would end. “Though revenue officials are aware of the problem of people, they are helpless as the strike has been called for a right cause. It will continue till the government fulfils the demands.”
Secretary of revenue and land reforms department N.N. Pandey said that steps would be taken to end the strike soon. “The department is looking into the matter and most of the demands have been met. I will conduct a meeting with the employees in the presence of land and revenue minister after which, they will hopefully call off the strike,” he said.
|
