APRSA seeks record assistants, night watchmen for tahsildar offices

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Revenue Services Association (APRSA) urged the government to appoint record assistants to maintain the records of the tahsildar offices safely and night watchmen at the 679 tahsildar offices in the state for the protection during the nights.

The association state leaders said the government is not sanctioning funds for the maintenance of revenue offices. While instructing the revenue offices to install CC cameras, it has not allocated funds.

The APRSA state office bearers meeting was held at the Revenue Bhavan here on Monday. Association president Bopparaju Venkateswarlu presided.

The association elected Ramisetti Venkata Rajesh as new general secretary. Districts presidents and general secretaries attended the meeting and discussed their problems. The meeting was conducted against the backdrop of Revenue Sadassulu scheduled from September 1. The meeting passed several resolutions urging the government to appoint the staff as the revenue offices as the existing staff is struggling due to heavy work and shortage of personnel after reorganisation of districts.

APRSA state president Venkateswarlu underlined the need to appoint night watchmen against the backdrop of burning of records and files of the revenue departments reported in Madanapalle and other places.

“Successive governments are not appointing record assistants for a long time. The existing staff can be promoted as record assistants to maintain office records. Revenue staff is also struggling to produce the records in time in the courts due to shortage of staff. The department is one of the oldest in the country, coming into existence during the British rule in 1786. The state government issued orders to the revenue offices to set up CC cameras but funds are not being allocated for the same,” he said.

Venkateswarlu said the government is sanctioning nominal amount for the maintenance offices, computers, printers and to meet other day-today-expenses.

Stating that the revenue staff is spending their own money for the office maintenance, he asked the government to provide basic amenities in offices.

Venkateswarlu said some tahsildar offices are in dilapidated condition and have no proper facilities to safely store the land and other records and documents. He said the governments are not sanctioning vehicle maintenance regularly and no funds are allocated for protocol expenses.

He said the existing revenue staff was adjusted after reorganisation of districts and there is no recruitment in the department for a long time. New collectorates and district revenue offices are facing staff crunch and some districts have only four sections, instead of eight sections.

He demanded the government to recruit the staff in revenue department, provide basic amenities and resolve the long pending problems.

Venkateswarlu said the APRSA has decided to extend co-operation to the state government and revenue department for conducting the Revenue Sadassulu from September 1 onwards.

He said the Revenue Services Association state meeting held in Eluru on August 25 decided to take their problems to the notice of revenue minister.

He said APRSA general secretary K Ramesh Kumar has decided to resign due to the personal reasons and new president Ramisetti Venkata Rajesh was elected unanimously by the state association members.