Pune: The state registration department announced on Thursday that all sub-registrar offices in Pune city will remain functional as usual. The clarification comes just a day after the department had warned that 15 offices would be forced to shut down due to a severe staff shortage triggered by Census 2027 duties.Officials confirmed that several deployment orders, which had assigned registration staff to census-related work, were subsequently cancelled. This move allows normal operations to continue across the city’s 27 sub-registrar offices without the previously anticipated disruptions.On Wednesday, the department had initially stated that nearly its entire clerical workforce—54 out of 58 senior and junior clerks—had been deputed for census work from May 16 to June 14. This would have left only 12 offices operational with skeleton staff.“In view of the acute manpower shortage, we had initially decided to temporarily shut 15 offices. However, following internal discussions at multiple levels and the cancellation of certain deployment orders, we have decided to keep all offices operational to serve the public,” a senior registration department official stated.The decision has brought significant relief to Pune’s real estate sector, one of the state’s busiest property markets. Citizens and homebuyers had expressed deep concern over the prospect of month-long delays in document registrations and property transactions.“Pune already handles a massive volume of daily registrations. If more than half the offices had closed, it would have created a nightmare of long queues and stalled transactions,” said Sandeep Krishnan, a homebuyer from Kothrud.For many, the timing of the potential shutdown was critical. Priya Menon, a resident of Hadapsar, noted that many families have their financial schedules and home loan disbursements tied to specific registration dates.“A sudden shutdown would have thrown loan timelines and property possession schedules into chaos. It is a massive relief to know that all 27 offices will remain open and services will continue as scheduled,” she said.
