Kamal Ghorui
RAIPUR: A homebuyer frustrated with frequent visits to the local housing board and an annoyingly long wait to locate his missing file, chose to beat the rigmarole – with roasted almonds.“Please eat these. Maybe it will help you remember where my file is,” he said, while placing a packet of almonds on a woman officer’s desk inside the housing board office in Bilaspur. And, in a matter of seconds, the trick did what months of paperwork, repeated visits and unanswered pleas had failed to do: force the system to respond.The now-viral video, part sarcasm and part citizen’s cry for help, has triggered administrative action in Chhattisgarh after exposing how a routine mutation file, already processed on paper, remained buried in the system yet made the applicant wait for nearly a year while he kept making rounds of the office.The complainant, Tarun Sahu, had applied for mutation of his EWS flat on March 17, 2025. By Nov 11, 2025, the paperwork had been completed and cleared internally. But the file never reached him. Instead, it stayed inside the department, even as he was allegedly told time and again that the file was “missing” and asked to “come tomorrow”.
For Sahu, what should have been a standard clerical process turned into a punishing loop of delays, uncertainty and humiliation. He claims he visited the office more than 50 times over the months, only to be met with the same evasive response: “come tomorrow, check later… or the file cannot be found”.Then came April 17.That day, Sahu walked into the office not with a formal complaint or a loud protest, but with half a kilogram of roasted almonds. In the video, he is seen placing the almonds on the desk of officer, remarking that perhaps they would help her remember where his file had been kept. The officer, too, began recording the exchange, while Sahu, having registered his protest, walked out.The visual was simple, but it struck a nerve.Within hours, the clip spread rapidly on social media, turning a local property mutation dispute into a wider commentary on system’s indifference.The fallout was swift. Following an inquiry, the housing board found what it termed serious negligence in the handling of the case. Executive engineer and in-charge estate officer L P Banjare and assistant Poonam Banjare were attached to the headquarters in Nava Raipur with immediate effect.State Housing Board commissioner Awanish Sharan confirmed that the attachment order had been issued. According to the inquiry and the details recorded in the order, the file had not only been processed but had also been assigned an outward number — yet it was never delivered to the beneficiary. The lapse effectively meant that even after official work had been completed, the applicant was made to suffer for months for no fault of his own.What could have remained a routine departmental embarrassment has since become a more layered controversy.Before the attachment order was issued, the woman officer had approached police with a complaint accusing Sahu of misconduct, unauthorised video recording, defamation and abusive behaviour.Sahu has denied the allegations and released additional videos defending his conduct, maintaining that his protest was born not out of disrespect but desperation after prolonged inaction. Supporters on social media have rallied behind him, portraying the act as a citizen’s satirical pushback against red tape. Others have questioned whether such confrontational methods inside govt offices should be condoned.Either way, the message has landed.
