Provide updated documents free of cost: Residents to govt

Mahesh Sharma

Mandi Ahmedgarh, May 23

Residents of the town and surrounding localities falling in Malerkotla district are a harried lot. They have urged the government to ensure that mandatory changes of addresses in their documents are made automatically by the administration and copies of rectified documents be provided to them free of cost.

Creation of Malerkotla dist led to problem

The change in addresses was necessitated when Malerkotla was carved out as the 23rd district of the state about two years ago on June 2, 2021. Earlier, Ahmedgarh used to be a part of Sangrur district but it is now in Malerkotla district.

Irked residents said they have to make several rounds of different offices for getting the relevant changes done in their essential documents, including Aadhaar cards, passports, financial documents and educational qualification certificates.

Residential certificates, caste certificates, registration deeds and economically weaker section certificates issued prior to the creation of the new district of Malerkotla are among other documents which have not been issued to all residents even after the passage of two years.

The managers and organisers at various government and private organisations are also required to change their signboards accordingly, but the same has not been done by many of them.

AAP leader Sanjiv Sharma said a large number of residents had sought his help in getting their details changed in documents.

“The exercise of rectification of documents has not been completed yet and poor labourers of the region have been the worst sufferers due to the lack of information among them,” Sharma said.

He added that the staff at Suvidha Kendras were overburdened these days as these documents are also required for school admissions.

“We have appealed to the higher authorities, including CM Bhagwant Mann, to ask the departments concerned to initiate necessary changes on their own and provide at least one copy of the documents to residents free of cost,” Sharma said.

It was observed that many private and government organisations were yet to change the name of district in their signboards and last recorded addresses with various agencies.

Interestingly, a communique received recently by government and private schools of the region informed that Malerkotla District Education Officer (Senior Secondary) had to remind the in-charges of these institutes that they were now in district Malerkotla and not Sangrur. The heads of these organisations have been advised to submit action-taken reports to their nodal officers.

Ahmedgarh SDM Harbans Singh said the problem can only be resolved by the state government as a policy matter.

“We have also advised officials at all Suvidha Kendras to be more expeditious to make the required changes,” the SDM added.