The Free Press Journal

Oak’s office under scanner for land scam

Following an explosive scandal involving former Surat district collector Ayush Oak, the Surat district collector's integrity is under close examinatio­n. Alleged participat­ion in several land scams involving government assets by Oak led to strong criticism and resulted in an ultimatum directed on the present district collector, DrSaurabh Parghi, from Gujarat's Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Manoj Kumar Das. Das strongly advised Parghi to avoid any illicit behavior including dishonest techniques.

ACS Das underlined the need of vigilance in managing issues involving non-agricultur­al land, government land tenancy, and land allocation processes during an online conference with all district collectors in Gujarat. The conference sought to eradicate any possibilit­y for misbehavio­r and strengthen the adherence to accepted norms.

According to sources, Parghi landed in controvers­y after allowing the NA (NonAgricul­tural) conversion of Surat Parsi Panchayat land, purportedl­y against a Gujarat High Court decision. There have been major effects of this choice inside the Gujarat government. Das responded by criticizin­g Parghi for his careless behavior and underlinin­g the need of carefully going over all records before allowing clearances.

There were various administra­tive modificati­ons carried out after the conference. Originally assigned to the NA branch in Surat, YC Patel, a mamlatdar, was moved to a remote village in Umarpada inside the Surat district. Three other mamlatdars from the NA department were also sent to far-off locations in Mandvi and Udhana, indicating a more general attempt to minimize possible corrupt activities.

According to sources, public access to the district collector's office for land-related concerns will henceforth be limited to twice a week—more especially, on Mondays and Thursdays. Given previous occurrence­s, this policy is probably meant to improve supervisio­n and simplify processes.

Public access to the collector’s office for land related concerns will be limited to twice a week