Registration and Stamps department struggles without permanent buildings in North Andhra districts

The Registration and Stamps Department struggles with the absence of not having its own buildings in Vizianagaram, Parvatipuram-Manyam and Srikakulam districts. Out of the 32 offices in these districts, the department has only 12 permanent buildings.

Additionally, due to pressure from building owners because of the inordinate delays in rent payments, several sub-registrar offices have to frequently shift to new premises. For instance, in Vizianagaram, the sub-registrar office located at Cantonment is shifted to Duppada-Ayyannapeta junction, on the outskirts of the city, while the sub-registrar office in Dasannapeta continues to function from a rented building. Departnment officials have expressed concern over the frequent shifting of offices. They said: “It becomes difficult to preserve 180 year-old documents, with these frequent shifts.”

According to sources, the department had requested the government to construct a new and permanent building in the old Taluk office, where it had served the people for many decades. The government had also sanctioned ₹2 crore for construction long ago, but dispute in regards to the site with a private person led to the project being shelved. Officials now hope that the government will resolve the dispute and initiate construction of a permanent building for the department.

Currently, the Deputy Inspector General Office of Stamps and Registration and District Registrar office of the department in Vizianagaram is functioning from a private building for almost two decades.

Senior officials have urged the Collectors of the three districts to allocate permanent buildings with ample space for parking of vehicles, which is a major concern at the existing offices which are located in streets and congested areas. People coming to the Dasannapeta and Duppada-Ayyannapeta sub-registrar offices in Vizianagaram for registration of their properties face inconvenience due to the lack of parking and other facilities.