A narrow, slippery trail climbs steeply for 100 metres before you reach the remote chowki in Jakhnikhal tehsil of Pauri Garhwal district. The outpost is a rundown two-storeyed structure, its central hall serving as a shared office for several patwaris—revenue sub-inspectors tasked with policing dozens of villages between them. A rusted lockup now holds old documents and body bags; a toilet has become a records room. A few cracked chairs flank a bench; faded maps hang loose on the walls. Roshni Sharma, 27, has been posted here just a few months. “We handle land records and police work, both,” says the young patwari, who has seven villages under her jurisdiction. “It becomes hard to do either properly.”
