Suhas Jadhav, an engineering student seeking the caste certificate, said he waited for hours only to be told that there would not issue it today. “I had applied for it on February 10 and was told to come on February 16. With no officer available, I did not get it today. I have now missed my deadline as I had to sent it along with my application today,’’he said.

Like Jadhav, there were several citizens who waited for hours to submit their applications but were told later that the concerned officer was on leave.

The Pune revenue department which had called for the mass leave saw 27 deputy collectors, 30 tehsildars, 67 naib tehsildars, 47 circle officers and 501 talathis participate in the mass leave called by the Federation of Tehsildars and Naib Tehsildars.

Deputy resident collector Chintamani Joshi said that the Sixth Pay Commission did not benefit the officers holding the position of tehsildar, naib tehsildar, circle officer and deputy collectors. "These form the cream of the MPSC examinations and they have been given a raw deal. With no promotions and even lesser salaries, they do not even given proper grooming,'' he said. The Federation of Tehsildars and Naib Tehsildars has also threatened an indefinite strike from February 18. “We have to take up these steps to highlight our demands,’’he said. The federation comprising members from 22 different departments of the district administration has stopped performing non-revenue works like issuing domicile certificates, voters list compilation and also monitoring citizen facilitation centres.