We are surprised by the report in this daily regarding the strike of extra-muharrirs (copiers of deeds) of land registry offices across the country because they have not been paid for the last 13 months. How is it possible that individuals employed by a government body can be denied their salary for over a year? The excuse of fund constraint is hardly convincing given that an estimate states that just five days of work abstention by the extra-muharrirs has deprived the government of TK 4 crore, an indication of the huge revenue this department earns. These deed copiers are paid only TK 7,200 a month for 300 pages of writing while the government gets TK 12,000 as revenue.

The strike has also caused immense suffering for individuals trying to get their land-related business done such as purchase, sale, mutation of land and mortgage. The backlog of work is also staggering and will cause huge delays if and when the strike is called off.

The government, no doubt, must investigate why these individuals have not been paid their salaries, incomes they need to sustain their families. The demand for deed copiers to be included in the national pay scale is not unjustified in context of such callous treatment from the offices they work for. Half of these deed copiers are women who are not entitled to maternity leave. 

We hope the authorities will immediately pay these people their dues and take their demands seriously. Extra-muharrirs perform an essential function in land registration and without their services these offices will virtually stop functioning, wreaking havoc for many ordinary citizens needing land-related documents.