Bengaluru taluk offices reek of irregularities, laxity: Lokayukta report

Bengaluru: Missing officials, long pendency of files and applications, lax maintenance of records, and interference of brokers and middlemen were among a plethora of irregularities detected at the taluk offices in Bengaluru during a recent inspection by the Karnataka Lokayukta. 

The surprise inspection, in which Karnataka Lokayukta Justice BS Patil took part, was held on January 20 in nine taluk offices in Bengaluru Urban and Bengaluru Rural districts. The internal report accessed by DH revealed the irregularities in five Bengaluru Urban taluk offices. 

In the Yelahanka taluk office, 43 officials were absent. The missing staff were playing cricket and no records of them obtaining tahsildar's permission were found. Twenty people were waiting at the office with their grievances. 

Fourty-four files were pending and unattended over one to four months and 16 were pending for several months with one of the officials in the RRT section. The register for applications received before July 15, 2023, wasn’t available. 

“In the register maintained from July 15, 2023, the date of receipt fee, receipt number and the officer’s signature weren’t found,” the report said. “The total receipt of applications in a month and their disposal and balance are not mentioned at the end of each month." 

The tahsildar, the report noted, had filed a police complaint against the Record Room clerk based on DC's order and FIR registration was pending. 

A whopping 1,281 applications under the RTI Act were pending in Bengaluru South taluk. Of the 31 officials with whom money was found during the inspection, only 19 declared it in the cash declaration register. There was a delay in attending to the public’s grievances and a technical defect was cited for the non-availability of information on receipt of applications in the e-office. 

At the Anekal taluk office, the Lokayukta found the presence of agents and brokers who were collecting money from the public through their mobile phones. The tahsildar’s name was missing in the attendance register and the Grade-II tahsildar had failed to sign it in January till the 20th. Signatures of some other officials were also missing on certain days. A total of 3,119 applications for different hoblis were pending as of December 31, 2023, and notices were not issued for several months. 

In Bengaluru East, 530 RRT cases were pending, 18 applications received under SAKALA were overdue, 573 and 180 RRT applications were pending for over three and six months, respectively, and 68 applications regarding katha transfer and mutation were pending, of which the oldest was dated July 18, 2023. Cleanliness was not maintained in and around the office and old unrepaired vehicles were parked outside. 

The tahsildar and the Grade II tahsildar were missing during the Lokayukta inspection in Bengaluru North taluk and the reason for their absence was not mentioned in the movement register. Many staff failed to sign the attendance register and did not reveal the cash possessed in the cash declaration register. 

The Lokayukta found that some officials did not wear identity cards, the public was not guided or attended to properly and basic infrastructure like drinking water, toilets and complaint boxes, and seating arrangements were lacking. Also, several files were pending for tahsildar’s signature from January 10 to 20, 2024.

A senior officer said: “The above irregularities will be notified to the concerned officials and after obtaining their response, further investigation as per the law will be taken up.”

Lokayukta Justice BS Patil said, "Members of the public said they were visiting frequently but were not being provided assistance. The officials concerned were not in a position to give a satisfactory response and if needed, the intervention of higher-ups will be recommended."