Lekhpals will now be regularly available at Gram Secretariats across all districts of Uttar Pradesh, the state government has announced, in a move aimed at making revenue services easier to access for rural residents. The decision, taken on the directions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, will come into effect from July 1. The Revenue Board has asked all District Magistrates to prepare attendance rosters and ensure proper seating arrangements for Lekhpals at the village level.
Officials say the step will cut down repeated visits to tehsil offices and speed up delivery of certificates and land record services to villagers.
Kanchan Verma, Commissioner and Secretary of the Revenue Board, said, "Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has consistently emphasised strengthening good governance, transparency, and doorstep delivery of public services at the village level. In line with this vision, it has been decided to ensure the regular presence of Lekhpals at Gram Secretariats in every district."
She explained that Gram Secretariats were set up in Gram Panchayats so that services from multiple departments could be offered at one place. Officials from various departments are already posted there under earlier directives of the Panchayati Raj Department, and adding Lekhpals to this arrangement is meant to speed up revenue-related work.
Services available through Panchayat Assistants at these secretariats include income, caste, domicile and status certificates, certified copies of Khatauni, and nearly ten other citizen services, all of which depend heavily on Lekhpals for timely processing.
Beyond certificate work, Lekhpals are involved in a long list of administrative tasks, including Tehsil Day and Police Commemoration Day proceedings, inheritance cases, the SVAMITVA Yojana, verification under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, disaster management, land dispute settlement, agricultural and population census work, crop surveys, encroachment checks, mining verification, Public Distribution System checks, and inspection of paddy and wheat procurement centres. Several government schemes also rely on their field reports.
Until now, the lack of a fixed sitting arrangement at the Gram Panchayat level meant villagers often had to travel to tehsil offices multiple times to meet a Lekhpal, losing both time and money.
With district-wise rosters now being prepared, the government expects Gram Secretariats to function as single-point service centres, making the Revenue Department's work more accountable and efficient for rural citizens.
