Postal Department Director Loses Cool Over Mutation Question! Lashes Out at Media Instead of Answering
Land mutation for the Shaheed Chowk Post Office remains pending; official loses patience immediately upon being questioned.
Ranchi: Ordinary citizens often have to make repeated rounds of government offices to get land mutations processed. Applications are frequently returned due to minor document discrepancies, and proceedings are stalled by citing regulations. Yet, when it comes to government departments themselves, rules and regulations seem to get buried in the files.
The land mutation for the Post Office (GPO) located at Shaheed Chowk in the capital, Ranchi, has not been completed to this day. When Dr. B.I. Chaudhary, Director of the Jharkhand Circle, was asked about this issue, he lashed out at the media instead of providing an answer.
The question was straightforward: Has the land mutation for the Shaheed Chowk Post Office been completed?
However, instead of giving a direct answer, the Director initially feigned ignorance. He stated that he hailed from Uttar Pradesh and did not know where Shaheed Chowk was located. The question arises: how can an official entrusted with the responsibility of the Jharkhand Postal Circle be unaware of the capital's most prominent and historic intersection—especially one that houses the GPO?
When the correspondent pressed the issue based on available documents and facts, the Director became increasingly uncomfortable. Instead of answering, he turned the tables and demanded to know the source of the information regarding the pending mutation and questioned the necessity of publishing a story on the subject. He began addressing the journalist disrespectfully—using the informal "tum" (you)—and flew into such a rage that it seemed he might resort to physical altercation. While addressing the journalist informally, he lectured him on manners. It seems one's own ignorance regarding a subject can be deeply bruising to the ego. It would have been better had he focused on enhancing his own knowledge rather than trying to intimidate the journalist. How do some officials forget that in a democracy, no one has the power to silence the pen? Well, the attempt to put the questioner in the dock, rather than answering the question itself, has raised several new questions.
According to sources, offline applications for the mutation of the land belonging to the Post Office at Shaheed Chowk, Ranchi, have been submitted to the Sadar Circle Office four times. Despite this, the Postal Department has failed to even file an online mutation application to date. Why is this the case? Are the documents incomplete? Is departmental negligence to blame? Or has the matter been buried in files for years? Would officials have caused such a delay if the land belonged to them personally?
The biggest question is: when ordinary citizens face difficulties for failing to get mutations done on time, why is a central government department itself failing to complete this process? Are there different rules for government departments and different ones for the public?
If a common man's mutation application remained pending for years, officials would lecture them on the rules. Yet, here, the mutation of land belonging to a government department itself has remained incomplete for years, and the responsible officials are getting annoyed instead of providing answers.
The answer to the core question regarding the mutation remains elusive. However, it is certainly clear that this question is making the department uncomfortable. The public now wants to know when the mutation of the GPO land at Shaheed Chowk will finally take place, who is responsible for the delay, and when accountability will be fixed for this years-long administrative negligence.
