Step-motherly attitude: Land record officials allege discrimination

Assistant directors are the only officers appointed through public service commission.

LAHORE: The only land revenue officials appointed through a constitutional recruiting authority have been sidelined after the formation of Punjab Land Records Authority (PLRA) in December last year.

Many assistant directors land record (ADLRs) working with land record centres (LRCs) across Punjab have quit their posts in recent weeks, alleging step-motherly attitude from the authority.

About 89 such officers, who serve as administrative heads of LRCs, have been functioning on expired contracts since March 7. Moreover, over 450 service centre officials (SCOs), who were working on term-based contracts, were sacked last week on the charges of illegal recruitment.

ADLRs are the only functionaries at the land record centres recruited through the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC). Several officials told The Express Tribune they have been facing discrimination after the formation of PLRA on December 22, 2016.

Through different tactics their powers have been clipped and they are forced to work under the supervision of Service Centre In-charges, who just have the technical expertise of computers to ensure smooth functioning of systems at the LRCs.

The ADLRs believe they have been victimised for being recruited by the Federal Bureau of Revenue through the PPSC while all other staff was recruited directly according to the whims of the high-ups.

The officials told The Express Tribune rumours were circulating that the PLRA was considering hiring them on the BS-16 grade instead of BS-17 under which they were hired actually.

“If any ADLR speaks for the rights of his colleagues, he is transferred to a far-off place from his home district,” an officer said speaking on condition of anonymity. “Even their transfer applications are not being entertained.”

Since their appointment, the ADLRs were given the authority to form a commission for recording statements of ailing persons or women at their houses instead of compelling them to come to the LRCs.

In a meeting on March 28, the PLRA department heads decided to take away these powers.

Item number 2 on the meeting agenda, according to the minutes available with The Express Tribune, states: “It was proposed that to clip the wings of ADLRs, the making of commissions will be decided by assistant commissioners or deputy commissioners in compliance with all laws.”

Other than ADLRs, the SCIs and service centre officials at the LRCs were recruited on contract directly by the Project Management Unit of the Land Record Management Information System (LRMIS) and Board of Revenue. The LRMIS has been made an independent authority and renamed as the PLRA.

MPA Rana Babar Hussain, who heads the PLRA board, admitted a specific lobby within the authority was leading a smear campaign against the ADLRs. “They are being victimised for nothing,” he said. “They are the custodians of land records worth billions of rupees, but they do not have any job security.”

Babar said he would take up the matter in the board meeting on April 13, but the final approval for their regularisation would come from the Punjab chief minister.

MPA Tahia Noon, PLRA board member, said the authority valued its human resource and ADLRs were an important component of the service delivery apparatus.

She said the ADLRs were recruited by the BoR and now by virtue of promulgation of the PLRA Act 2017, their services stand transferred to the PLRA.

“Although their contracts expired on March 7, their service under the PLRA is secure,” she added, claiming the authority would offer new contracts to the ADLRs during this month.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2017.