A 71-year-old retired government servant is facing a unique identity crisis.
Eleven years after he retired as Jagdev Bhardwaj from the postal department, the septuagenarian has been running from pillar to post to get his name rectified in the revenue records.
A resident of Narela, Jagdev holds some agricultural land near Bawana.
Around two years ago, when the government distributed compensation to farmers for destruction of their standing crops in a hailstorm, Jagdev was denied the relief as his name in the revenue records read ‘Jagdish’, his nick name.
Nick name in record
Jagdev says he is known in the entire village by his nickname, but has no idea how it entered the revenue records.
Fearing that his “legal heirs might face trouble getting their share due to this mistake”, Jagdev decided to set the record straight.
What started as simple procedure then, has turned into an ordeal after two years.
In November 2015, Jagdev filed an application to the SDM, Narela, requesting his name be rectified from Jagdish to Jagdev. He also furnished necessary documents and arranged two witnesses. However, he received no response from the authorities concerned.
Two RTIs pleas
Frustrated by the delay, he moved an RTI application to find out the status of his case.
Yet again, he did not hear from them. “We then moved another RTI application before the ADM, who is the appellate authority, in 2016, only to be disheartened,” says Jagdev’s nephew.
The SDM office replied that Jagdev’s application for rectification of name and accompanying records were “not traceable”.
Jadgev then decided to move a complaint before the Public Grievance Commission (PGC) contending that the SDM had “slept on” his application and his “name be changed in his lifetime”.
PGC intervenes
The PGC early this year ordered the Revenue Department to do whatever is needed to resolve Jagdev’s grievance.
The Commission ordered that a senior representative be deputed on the next date of hearing along with an action-taken report.
On the next date of hearing, the Commission was informed that Jagdev has been requested to provide a copy of a gazette notification regarding change of name as well as two witnesses.
‘Reply unsatisfactory’
"The Commission is not satisfied with the reply filed by the department and directs the Tehsildar (Narela) to be personally present on the next date of hearing along with all the rules and files pertaining to this grievance case,” ordered PGC chairman P.K. Tripathi.
The matter will now be heard in May.
Though the PGC order has given some hope to Jagdev, he seems to have run out of patience.
“We don't want any more dates. We need the name to be rectified,” says Jagdev's nephew.
