The State government decision to do away with 5,072 temporary posts in the Revenue Department in phases is likely to seriously impair the service delivery mechanism and also affect revenue collection.
The government, as part of its flab-shedding process, had identified excess posts in all departments and decided to eliminate 25 per cent posts by denying annual clearance for their continuation. Revenue Department sources told The Hindu here that slashing about 30 per cent posts created for executing certain projects that have become extinct may not have a direct bearing on the overall functioning, but a scientific redeployment for boosting the revenue collection and improving the service to the public would have been a wiser option for the cash-strapped government, which was striving hard to optimise its revenue collection.
For instance, no serious effort has been put in so far to mop up the one-time building tax levied on all newly-constructed buildings in the urban areas.
Proposal
The government could have constituted a special unit combing Revenue Department and urban local government personnel to collect the building tax. By any modest estimates, the government could have collected at least Rs.20 crore from this source alone. This could well be stepped up too.
The functioning of revenue division offices needeed to be toned up. At least six districts — Thiruvaanthapuram, Kollam, Thrissur, Kozhikode, and Kannur — need two revenue division offices. The government could have opened one more office in each district and also redeployed the employees to increase the efficacy of the taluk and village offices, sources said.
Staff shortage
Service delivery mechanism at majority of the 1,664 village offices across the State remained seriously crippled due to staff shortage. The village offices had to perform a variety of functions ranging from issuance of a number of certificates to collection of tax and spot inspections. The staff strength in these offices was disproportionate to the increase in population and the functions assigned to the employees.
One or two additional employees in each village office would have done a world of good to improve their functioning and also provide better service to the public, sources said. Indiscreetly axing posts created in offices opened for land acquisition for specific projects too would prove costly.
