Role and Responsibilities of a Tehsildar in Rajasthan – An Address by V.Srinivas IAS

– V.Srinivas IAS –

Director Rajasthan Revenue Training Institute

Registrar Revenue Board,

Course -Director, for the Induction Course,

Officer Trainees of the Rajasthan Tehsildar Service

I am delighted to address you this morning and welcome you to a career in public service in Rajasthan, as you begin your first week of training at the Revenue Training Institute. In a year’s time you will be appointed as Naib Tehsildars. I would urge upon each of you to dedicate yourselves with a seriousness of purpose, intense commitment and drive to the cause of land reforms in Rajasthan. Rajasthan is a State where land is the summum-bonum of rural existence. Acharya Vinoba Bhave led the Bhoodan movement in Rajasthan in several districts of Western Rajasthan pursuing the cause of land reforms.

The post of Tehsildar has been vested with statutory powers under the Rajasthan Tenancy Act, the Rajasthan Land Revenue Act and the Rajasthan Land Allotment Rules. The Tehsildar is the foremost custodian of all Lands in the Tehsil, he is the land owner with Tenancy Rights being given to various Khatedar Tenants. The Tehsildar is also the custodian of all temple and common lands. Further the Tehsildar has been vested with considerable powers as an Executive Magistrate under the Code of Criminal Procedure. In addition, he has supervisory powers over a large cadre of Patwaris, Inspectors of Land Records and also has to exercise functional responsibility for the day to day functioning of the Tehsil office. It is one of the most critical pillars of Governance of Rajasthan. No other position in Government has the interface with Khatedar tenants than Tehsildars.

In 1989 when I arrived as a young IAS probationer in Rajasthan, I was appointed as an officer trainee at Nagaur District. One of my fondest memories of my training period was my Tehsil attachment with an extremely committed Tehsildar Merta named Jagdish Prasad Tyagi. In the one-week period that I was attached with him, Shri Tyagi sent me for an attachment with a Patwari in a remote village of Lungia in Riya Badi sub-tehsil. I remember spending 2 days and one night in the patwar ghar learning the nuances of land records and measurements of farm lands. The Patwari is the custodian of several types of land records, the prominent of which are the Record of Rights (the Jamabandi), the Khasra Girdawari which records the crop patterns and the Mutation Register. Further the Patwari also maintains a Daily Diary and records for monitoring the tax collections. I also remember my attachment and stay at sub-tehsil Riya Badi and then the attachment with the Office Kanungo in the Tehsil Headquarters at Merta.

Intense commitment to the cause of land reforms is necessary for success as a Tehsildar. The components of land reforms in Rajasthan are Land Ceiling, Tenancy, Common Lands and Maintenance of Land Records. It is incumbent on the Tehsildar to protect the rights of Khatedar Tenants and confer Khatedari rights on Gair- Khatedar Tenants in a time a bound manner. It is also the Tehsildar’s responsibility to ensure that the Land Records are updated in a timely manner, mutations are completed and partition of holdings duly recorded on the village revenue map.

In the 21st century the world has become a digital village. Considerable work has been undertaken in digitization of land records with modernization of tehsil offices and records rooms. It is important for young officers of Tehsildar service to fully familiarize themselves with the various programs associated with the Modernization of Land Records.

There are certain essentials that you must observe in the training period –

learn the work of a patwari in terms of writing of land records, mutations, measurements and the updation of maps.
Do Night Halts in Patwar circles and spend time in reading the Jamabandi in common places to identify the status of updation of land records.
Learn the work of an Office Kanungo who is responsible for maintenance of Tehsil land records.
Stay in ILR Hqs and Sub Tehsil Hqs, always familiarize yourselves with field conditions.
Never fudge a TA bill or never fudge a log book.

There are several Departments in addition to the Revenue Department where officers of the Rajasthan Tehsildar Service are posted. These include Colonization Department, Settlement Department, Urban Local Bodies and Registration and Stamps Department. Each Department has its own challenges. Having served as Colonization Commissioner in 1993, I do remember the onerous responsibilities of land allotment which were entrusted upon the Tehsildars as lacs of hectares of command land was to be cultivated in Phase II of IGNP.

I would urge each one of you to recognize the enormous responsibilities that you are about to shoulder and prestigious assignments you would be taking up in coming years. I wish you all success in your challenging policy endeavors and a success career in public service.

– Address by V.Srinivas IAS, Chairman Board of Revenue for Rajasthan at the Induction Course for Tehsildars at the Rajasthan Revenue Training Institute Ajmer dated August 18, 2017 – 

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About the author

V.Srinivas IAS

Senior Bureaucrats and Author

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V.Srinivas is an IAS officer of 1989 batch, presently posted as Chairman Rajasthan Tax Board. He had previously served in the Ministry of Finance and as Advisor to Executive Director (India) IMF, Washington DC. Also worked as Planning and Finance Secretary of Rajasthan.

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Disclaimer : The views expressed by the author in this feature are entirely his  own and do not necessarily reflect the views of INVC NEWS.