Punjab Government Takes Steps to Combat Corruption, Revamps Registry Clerk Appointments and Roles
Babushahi Bureau
Chandigarh, July 30, 2025 —
The Punjab Government has issued comprehensive directives aimed at rooting out corruption and strengthening transparency in the offices of Sub-Registrar and Joint Sub-Registrar across the state. In a fresh order from the Department of Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management (Stamp & Registration Branch), all Deputy Commissioners have been instructed to overhaul the appointment and working pattern of registry clerks assisting registrars.
As per the instructions, a pilot project of ‘Easy Registration’ already functional in SAS Nagar (Mohali) district, will soon be implemented statewide. Once operational, it will significantly alter the working structure of Sub-Registrar, Joint Sub-Registrar, and supporting clerks.
Key Instructions and Changes
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Revised Roles: The Sub-Registrar/Joint Sub-Registrar is now required to personally scrutinize and ensure legal compliance of documents received for pre-approval, verify the correct calculation and payment of stamp duty, registration fees, and other charges, and authenticate the identity of parties involved at the time of registration.
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Clerk’s Functions: The clerks assisting Sub-Registrars will now focus on uploading court orders or stay instructions promptly on the Easy Jamabandi Portal, printing endorsements, obtaining signatures/thumb impressions from all parties, and ensuring the registry copy is handed over to parties within an hour of completion.
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Monitoring: All clerk activities will be performed strictly under the supervision of the Sub-Registrar or Joint Sub-Registrar, who will be held directly accountable for any lapse.
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Updated Syllabus: With these procedural changes, the government will create a new examination syllabus for registry clerks, reflecting their updated duties.
Appointment Policy Tightened
In a significant move to prevent the formation of corruption networks, the government has decided:
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All employees currently posted as registry clerks will be rotated out of these roles, and detailed reports are to be submitted by Deputy Commissioners.
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Only those clerks with less than seven years of government service will now be eligible to assist with registry work. They must pass the relevant exams within six months of appointment.
The decision comes after it was found that only 10–15% of eligible employees had cleared the registry clerk exam, resulting in repeated postings of the same individuals—making it harder to break corruption nexuses.
The government says these steps are geared towards breaking long-standing practices of bribery in registry offices and ensuring a fully transparent, regulated, and accountable system.