Tehsil, SDM, Lekhpal: who actually approves your certificate

A certificate passes through three or four hands before it is signed. Knowing which officer holds your file tells you exactly where to ask when it stops moving.

In short

The portal routes your file to the Tehsil for your address, the Lekhpal verifies on the ground, and the Tehsildar signs. Knowing which stage the file is at tells you which office to ask when it stops moving.

The chain

1. 1The e-District portal: Accepts the application, takes the fee and routes the file to the Tehsil for your address.
2. 2The Lekhpal: The revenue official for your area. Conducts the field verification and files the report, the stage where most of the elapsed time goes.
3. 3The Kanungo or Naib Tehsildar: Reviews the report and moves the file up, or sends it back with a query.
4. 4The Tehsildar: Approves and digitally signs the certificate. For some services the SDM signs instead.

Who to approach, and when

There is a rule of thumb: ask the officer who currently holds the file, not the top of the chain. A file at “under verification” is with the Lekhpal, and the Tehsil office can tell you which one. A file with the report submitted but no signature for a week is an approval queue question for the Tehsildar's office. Take the application number. No office can find your file from a name. The application number and the district and Tehsil you applied in are what make the enquiry possible in one visit rather than three.

Where the SDM comes in

The Sub-Divisional Magistrate signs certain certificates directly and hears grievances about the Tehsil's handling of others. If a file has been closed on a ground you believe is wrong, the SDM's office is the right escalation: with the rejection reason from the portal in hand.