Punjab govt suspends 800 ‘corrupt’ revenue staffers

[LahoreEstate]

LAHORE: In a major development, the Punjab government on Tuesday suspended from service nearly 800 revenue staffers on charges of corruption.
According to Board of Revenue Senior Member Akhlaq Ahmad Tarar, the vacant posts would be placed under the additional charge of other officials.
Those suspended from service included tehsildars, naib-tehsildars, patwaris, girdawars and registry muharrirs working all over the province.
He said such officials had been made OSDs for the time being, and departmental action would be taken against them after conducting formal inquiries.
In a few districts, he said, the removed officials had been charge sheeted because of clear evidence of corruption against them.
Meanwhile, official sources revealed the action had been taken as a result of an exercise conducted by the provincial government two days ago to trace out the corrupt among revenue officials and those prompting others to go on a strike to pre-empt action against them.
The exercise was conducted in the backdrop of strike by patwaris, and those suspended from service had been removed from their posts merely on the initial reports of the divisional commissioners. The reports did not specifically mention charges against a majority of the officials, the sources claimed, adding the action should not have been taken without any concrete evidence.

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