Conduct a ground reality check at least once a week: additional chief revenue secretary Vikas Kharage

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

Additional chief revenue secretary Vikas Kharage on Friday advised senior revenue officials in the division and district to conduct a “ground reality check” at least once a week and take corrective measures to improve administrative services and facilities.

Kharage has initiated a practice of directly visiting district collectorates every Friday to review revenue administration services. As part of this initiative, he visited the district collector’s office in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. He inspected the city survey office, land records department, stamp duty office and Setu Suvidha Kendra, interacting with citizens regarding the services provided.

Speaking to the media, Kharage said he has been visiting different districts every Friday, including Solapur, Sangli and Satara, to review facilities and obtain public feedback on the functioning of the revenue machinery. He reviewed work processes and pending cases in seven offices and later held a meeting at the divisional commissioner’s office. Divisional commissioner Jitendra Papalkar and other senior officials were present during the inspection.

Talathi federation delegation meets Kharage

A delegation of the Talathi Federation submitted a memorandum requesting 16-inch laptops and improved printers for Talathis. Kharage responded positively to the proposal. The federation also raised the issue of pay anomalies in the Nayab Tehsildar cadre.

Agents absent during visit

With Kharage’s visit, middlemen were reportedly absent from the city survey and stamp duty offices. When asked about the growing presence of agents in the revenue system, Kharage said corrective measures would be taken at the senior level.

He added that the requirement for separate NA permission has now been discontinued, eliminating the need to visit two different offices for NA and building permissions. The government, he said, is focusing on citizen-centric governance under the theme of a “Developed Maharashtra”.

Expresses displeasure over facilities

Kharage expressed dissatisfaction after inspecting the land survey office and Setu Suvidha Kendra, pointing out inadequate facilities and unclean surroundings in the collectorate premises. He interacted with citizens seeking certificates at the Setu centre and reviewed operations at the city survey office.

Photo: Additional chief revenue secretary Vikas Kharage reviewing work at the stamp duty office, accompanied by senior district officials.