Gujarat govt begins probe into land disputes, fake farmer records in Vadodara

A team led by the Revenue Inspection Commissioner (RIC) of the state government commenced an investigation at the office of Vadodara Rural Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM). The team, consisting of five officers from Gandhinagar, arrived at the Vadodara Rural SDM office on Aug 21 and seized documents and computer data.

The probe, expected to last over a day, was triggered by a report submitted by the district collector to the state government following a review of cases on land dispute in Gujarat.

Following the appointment of Jayanti Ravi as the Additional Chief Secretary of the Gujarat Revenue Department, a review of land dispute cases across Gujarat was conducted, involving district collectors, SDMs, non-agricultural deputy collectors, and agricultural boards. 

The review revealed that some officials in major cities violated the rules of revenue department and had issued false records, leading to widespread corruption. Based on this, Additional Chief Secretary Jayanti Ravi directed the RIC teams to conduct investigations.

The Revenue Department’s investigation indicated that during the tenure of Mayank Patel and the current officer Rajesh Chauhan at the Vadodara Rural SDM office, there were violations of the rules

The district collector had assured that these controversial cases would be reviewed, and a confidential report with all relevant information was sent to the state government. 

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