On new Gurgaon DC’s agenda, action against revenue officials for irregularities in land deal registrations

“Accordingly, the reports of two divisions —Gurgaon and Karnal —have been sent to the government. Based on these reports, the state government has communicated to the deputy commissioners of these divisions to take action against the registry clerks as well as the tehsildars and naib tehsildars, who are responsible for the lapses,” said Yadav.

He added that the idea of a controlled area concept was introduced to ensure that the development is accomplished in a planned manner.

Yadav(32), a native of Behror, Alwar, and a 2013 batch IAS officer, was previously posted as deputy commissioner Karnal. A graduate of IIT Delhi, he joined the civil services in 2013. On Tuesday, the Haryana government had transferred six deputy commissioners while reshuffling 21 IAS officers across the state. The former Gurgaon DC Yash Garg has been transferred as Haryana Public Service Commission secretary.

As many as 34 sub-registrars (tehsildars) and joint sub-registrars (naib tehsildars), 22 registry clerks and 176 patwaris in Haryana are likely to face disciplinary proceedings for alleged violation of rules in the registration process of 9,774 land deals mostly in cases of residential plots, after inquiries were conducted by divisional commissioners in the state.

Sources said as per the fact-finding report on registration of deeds, for the violation of section 7-A of Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975 from April 2017 to August 2021, 119 patwaris in Gurgaon, Mahendergarh and Rewari districts are likely to face action for their involvement in changing the nature of land in Khasra girdawari.

Yadav said to solve the problem, one solution was to take action and initiate an enquiry against people responsible for executing the registration processes without due clearances for old registrations.

“In future, our effort would be to ensure that no registration happens without NOCs or in violation of the act and with the process now moving online [HALRIS software], we hope to solve this. We will also hold a meeting of revenue officials to discuss these issues,” said the DC.

Yadav told media that his priority would be to improve the grievance redressal processes, ensure public service delivery and to simplify processes for people to access the administration. “Developing sports infrastructure also will be a focus. After discussions with officers, I was surprised to know that sports stadiums here lack basic facilities,” he said.

Emphasising that waterlogging was a major problem in Gurgaon over the recent years, the DC said it was embarrassing for the administration and the government to have the city waterlogged during monsoons.

“It is a matter of embarrassment for administration considering that we talk of improving infrastructure to MNCs and firms here. The challenge is that there are multiple authorities and agencies [MCG, GMDA, HSVP and others] who deal with this issue. We will ensure proper coordination among them. During off-seasons like these, we will work out the traditional waterlogged areas and figure out a solution for drainage at those points,” he added.

The DC said he had stayed in Gurgaon for a year before he joined the civil services. “After graduation, I worked in Gurgaon in an MNC in 2010-11 when I was 20 years old. At the time, I noticed several things when I travelled across the city, which could be addressed. Traffic is a major concern and connectivity in certain parts is poor,” he added.