Jaipur: More than 800 applicants seeking services from Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) are facing indefinite delays because property and land records linked to their applications have gone missing from the authority’s headquarters.A senior JDA official said some applications were submitted during urban service camps held before the municipal polls, while others had remained pending for 12 to 18 months. Certified copies cannot be issued until mandatory procedures are completed when original records are untraceable, the official said.“We are reeling under manpower shortage. It takes huge time to comply with mandatory norms for issuing certified copies when documents are not traceable at headquarters,” the official said.Officials attribute the missing files primarily to misfiling, with documents sometimes placed in the records of other properties, requiring staff to search through stacks of files. However, an official alleged that some cases involved deliberate manipulation.“In some cases, a section of officials themselves manipulates documents, often to help builders,” the official said.Applicants said they were being sent from one desk to another and asked to complete formalities despite the records going missing within the authority.Advocate Anmol Devenda, who appears before the JDA tribunal, said the standard operating procedure required a police FIR when files went missing. However, he alleged that JDA officials often issued complaint letters and directed applicants to police stations, where they were asked to file complaints online instead.JDA officials said digitisation of property records is underway and would help prevent such problems in the future once the process gets completed.“Once all property documents are digitised, these issues will get over,” an official said.
