65 yrs ago, patwaris demanding earned leave, HRA hike brought revenue dept to its knees

CHANDIGARH: Patwaris in Punjab are organising an agitation to protest vigilance bureau’s actions against their colleagues facing corruption charges and over being given additional work. While the ongoing strike is pen down in nature and has not exactly brought works in the revenue department to a grinding halt, a protest by patwaris way back in 1957-58 had brought revenue, rehabilitation and land consolidation work in the state to a standstill for over four months.

When Punjab was still struggling to consolidate its land records in its then 19 districts (including all districts of today’s Haryana), the state had witnessed the longest-ever strike by patwaris, whose demands were as modest as those times. At the time, over 7,300 patwaris had demanded an increase of Rs 4 per month in house rent allowance (HRA), free education for their children, inclusion of privilege leave and earned leave in their leave structure, and an increase in their payscale.

Such was the agitation that the then Punjab government led by Congress strongman Pratap Singh Kairon had to resort to strong-arm tactics and suspended almost all agitating employees. On record, 7,336 patwaris and kanungos went on strike on December 12, 1957. Soon after, the government suspended 2,992 and dismissed another 1,499, and jailed 3,417. Before that protest, the stature of patwaris was not on a par with Class III employees. “Their payscale was higher than Class IV, but lower than Class III employees,” said a retired official.

Apart from a pay hike to be on a par with Class III staff, the patwaris were seeking that their monthly HRA be raised from Rs 6 to Rs 10. They wanted a basta and stationery allowance, free education for their kids, confirmed jobs after three years of service, and a rule that each patwari would not be involved in consolidating more than 400 acres.

Citing that their total strength is over 10,000 in the state, agitating employees also demanded that their representative be taken as a member of Punjab legislative council (upper house).

To counter the piling up of files in revenue patwar circles and defuse the agitation, the Congress government immediately recruited around 4,400 new patwaris. The quantum of work could be gauged from the fact that when the employees ended their stir after four months, the government not only reinstated all agitators, but also allowed the newly recruited patwaris to continue in service, said a Mansa-based retired revenue official, who participated in the strike.

“That was the longest strike by revenue employees in the history of post-1947 Punjab. It ended in April 1958. Almost all agitating employees were suspended. However, to defuse the tension, the government made some of the agitators to apologise and rejoin duty,” said the retired official.