By Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
Sitarganj (US Nagar), 30 Jul: A major administrative confrontation was witnessed in Sitarganj tehsil of Udham Singh Nagar district after a vigilance raid led to the arrest of two revenue employees accused of accepting Rs 14,000 in bribes. The incident triggered strong protests from tehsil staff, who locked the main gate, declared an indefinite strike and confined the vigilance team inside the premises for nearly 20 hours. The arrested employees, a senior assistant and a collection amin, were accused of demanding money in exchange for revenue-related work.
As news of the arrests spread on 29 July, revenue staff gathered in large numbers and denounced the action as unilateral and in violation of departmental procedures. They launched a sit-in protest, locked the tehsil gate and announced a boycott of work. The vigilance team, unable to leave, remained inside the premises overnight. The agitation paralysed the entire tehsil, halting services such as mutation, income, caste and residence certificates, copies of land records and other revenue functions. Villagers from distant areas, who had come for official work, were forced to return without resolution, facing considerable hardship.
The standoff drew widespread attention across the district, with administrative circles abuzz over the unprecedented situation. Senior officials engaged in multiple rounds of talks with employee unions from late last night into this afternoon. The unions demanded a fair inquiry into the vigilance action and strict adherence to departmental procedures. After prolonged negotiations, consensus was reached and the employees agreed to withdraw their protest. The vigilance team subsequently released the two arrested staff members, following which the gate was unlocked and normal work resumed.
Later, today, the tehsil office returned to routine functioning, bringing relief to citizens whose pending certificates and land matters had been stalled. However, employee organisations warned that if their demands were ignored or actions detrimental to staff interests were repeated, they would not hesitate to resume agitation. Sitarganj SDM Tushar Saini confirmed that resolution was achieved through dialogue and normalcy restored.
The incident has become a talking point across Uttarakhand, highlighting the friction between vigilance operations and departmental staff. While vigilance sought to act against alleged corruption, the employees’ protest disrupted governance and exposed the fragility of administrative processes. For now, the situation has stabilised, but the episode is expected to remain under scrutiny and debate in the days ahead. The question that arises is whether the government is willing to cave under such pressure and submit to the blackmail tactics. It is perhaps unprecedented in Uttarakhand that the arrested revenue officials arrested while accepting bribe were released under the pressure of fellow employees.
