Hundreds of document writers in the district began indefinite strike on Thursday in protest against the proposed delegation of the services rendered by Registration and Stamps Department (RSD), to Mee Seva centres. Transactions at the 20-plus sub-registrar offices in the purview of District Registrars of Vijayawada, Vijayawada East and Machilipatnam were hit as the document writers stayed away from their work in response to the call by their State Association.
Leading the agitation, the Patamata and Gunadala Document Writers’ Welfare Association (PGDWWA) feared that the proposal to divest RSD of its wide portfolio of services and get them done through the Mee Seva centres organised by private individuals would cause a lot of problems to the people.
The document writers would be deprived of their livelihood as people would apparently flock to the Mee Seva centres which have the kind of technology that is required to handle the large volume of data generated by the registration of movable and immovable properties under the Registration Act, 1908, Indian Stamp Act, 1899 and various other Acts (implemented by RSD) and issue registered documents thereof.
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It is not only document writers but also stamp vendors, surveyors, data entry operators and related workers who stand to lose their livelihood. PGDWWA leaders N.G.S.V. Narayana, K. Sai Babu, Balakrishna, Srinivasa Raju, Rekha Babu and others said that the Government’s indifferent attitude to their grievances forced them to go on strike.