Avinash Azad
In a stark admission that exposes the deep-rooted administrative rot within Jammu and Kashmir’s governance structure, the government on Tuesday revealed that a total of 1,560 key posts in the Revenue Department — including those of Tehsildars, Naib Tehsildars, Girdawars, and Patwaris — are lying vacant across the Union Territory.
The disclosure came during the ongoing winter session of the Legislative Assembly in Srinagar, in response to an Un-Starred Question raised by MLA Farooq Ahmad Shah, who sought details about the number of vacant posts and the measures being taken to fill them.
According to the government’s written reply, the breakdown of vacancies is alarming:
- 21 posts of Tehsildar
- 113 posts of Naib Tehsildar
- 163 posts of Girdawar, and
- 203 posts of Patwari
The shortage, officials say, has left large parts of rural J&K struggling with delayed revenue operations — from issuing Fard-e-Intikhab and Jamabandi copies to conducting mutations and land verifications.
In its response, the government claimed that “various steps are being taken to fill up the vacant posts of different categories,” adding that direct recruitment posts have been referred to the J&K Services Selection Board (JKSSB) and the Public Service Commission (PSC) for further processing.
“Besides, 142 vacant posts of Patwari have been filled on the recommendations of the J&K SSB. For filling up of the vacant posts under promotion category, the Departmental Promotion Committees are regularly held at UT, Divisional, and District level for promotion of eligible officials,” the government stated.
However, the admission has once again raised serious concerns about the efficiency of land and revenue administration in Jammu and Kashmir. Insiders say that prolonged staff shortages have paralysed land record management, disrupted the ongoing digitisation drive, and compounded public grievances over delays in basic services.
“The Revenue Department is the backbone of governance in rural J&K, but years of neglect have brought it to its knees,” said a retired revenue officer. “Without Patwaris and Girdawars on the ground, digitisation is meaningless. Land disputes are piling up, and ordinary citizens are the worst sufferers.”
The disclosure follows a series of similar admissions made by the government in recent sessions — revealing thousands of vacancies across critical departments such as health, education, and public works — reflecting a wider crisis of governance and recruitment inertia in the Union Territory.
The reply, however, remained silent on any specific timeline or recruitment schedule, merely stating that the process for filling up these critical vacancies is “under consideration.”
Officials say that the shortage has crippled routine revenue operations in many tehsils, with citizens facing months-long delays in obtaining mutation certificates, Fard-e-Intikhab, and other land-related documents. The backlog has also affected land record verification, property registration, and grievance redressal mechanisms.
Experts point out that the vacancy crisis, combined with ongoing land record digitisation efforts, has created a double administrative vacuum, particularly in rural and hilly regions where Patwaris and Girdawars form the backbone of land governance.
“How can digitisation succeed when the very human infrastructure that maintains land records is hollow?” remarked a former revenue official, adding that years of bureaucratic delay and slow recruitment have left the department overstretched.
The disclosure adds to a series of grim statistics emerging from the ongoing Assembly session, where multiple departments have admitted to thousands of vacancies across key administrative, health, and infrastructure sectors—raising serious concerns about the delivery of public services in Jammu and Kashmir.
