Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was said to have quizzed the Collectors at their conference here recently whether the Village Revenue Officer (VRO) system should stay, given the apprehensions about them in the public and his own view corroborating the same.
But, the Collectors reportedly made a pitch for the continuation of the system as the government needed a machinery in villages to get factual information on local conditions.
Mr. Rao reportedly closed the subject, saying the matter could be discussed at the next Collectors’ conference in January, which would go into the roadmap for implementation of the new revenue legislation to be taken up by the Assembly next month.
Sources said the Collectors favoured modifications to the existing VRO system by introducing components of the Citizens Charter Bill proposed by UPA government in 2011. It was introduced in the Lok Sabha but lapsed because of dissolution of the House then.
The Bill sought to confer on every citizen the right to time-bound delivery of specified goods and services and a mechanism for grievance redress.
The Bill made it mandatory for every public authority to publish a Citizen’s Charter within six months of the commencement of the Act, failing which the concerned official would face action, including a fine of ₹ 50,000 from his salary.
The Collectors also cited the list of Citizens Charters by erstwhile Andhra Pradesh and 23 other States and Union Territories, prepared prior to the Bill, which mandated disposal of services in a time-bound manner. Perhaps, the components of the twin initiatives could be integrated to modify the duties of VROs in a bid to strengthen the system, they felt.
Mr. Rao, sources said, was keen on scrapping the VRO system and merging the employees with panchayat raj or agriculture departments to curb corruption in revenue administration.
He had already said in an Assembly session that VROs enjoyed more powers than the Chief Minister, the Chief Secretary and Chief Commissioner of Land Administration. His also indicated revolutionary changes in revenue department during his speeches in TRS campaign for Lok Sabha elections.
Several VROs were suspended on charge of corruption during the land records updation programme taken up by the government.
It was alleged that they took bribes from farmers to rectify land records. Lack of awareness among VROs about laws also resulted in blunders.