M A I N   N E W S

Punjab Shamlat Plunder-3
Gurdaspur officials fail to take on ‘influential’ encroachers
FEAR FACTOR: Authorities are reluctant to retrieve land in illegal possession of politicians or their henchmen
Ravi Dhaliwal/TNS

Gurdaspur, October 22
In this district whenever there is a discussion on illegal possession of shamlat land (common village land), talk often veers around to Ranbir Singh Mudal, who was posted as the Gurdaspur DDPO four years ago. Revenue officials often recall his tale of woes whenever they are asked by administration officials to take back lands in illegal possession of politicians or their henchmen.

Mudal's only fault was that he was doing his duty and was trying to vacate nearly 100 acres of panchayat land falling in Fatehgarh Churian assembly segment but was beaten black and blue by the henchmen of a powerful politician known for his proximity to the Chief Minister.

Likewise, in Keshopur Champ, Asia’s biggest wetland spread in an area of 850 acres, politicians are allegedly giving shelter to villagers who have taken illegal possession of nearly 100 acres of the Chamb’s land. The district administration is in a bind as to how to get the land back in possession of the panchayats. There are five panchayats who have leased out their common land to Keshopur Chamb.

Another prime example of shamlat land being encroached upon by leading politicians was a 32-acre piece of agriculture land in Dalerpur Khera village. Acting of orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Deputy Commissioner had to take the help of the police to get the land vacated. Leading politicians of the area had allegedly taken possession of the land for the past several decades and administrators were feeling helpless in getting the land vacated. It was only on the intervention of the court that the panchayat got back the land.

These three examples are suffice to prove how politicians are out to grab shamlat and panchayat lands with the help of unscrupulous elements.

The problem of getting such lands vacated is compounded by the fact that unbridled powers have been conferred upon halqa in charges (area chiefs) by the powers-that-be in the SAD. This is having a boomeranging effect with many of these leaders, who lost their respective assembly seats in the last assembly elections, blatantly misusing their powers to usurp shamlat and panchayat lands allegedly through their henchmen.

Leave alone shamlat lands, even forest lands are being usurped. Talk is thick in the air as to how a powerful ruling party legislator is providing shelter to a mafia which is controlling hundreds of acres of forest land on the banks of the Beas on the Mehtabpur on the Gurdaspur-Mukerian road.

An order issued by the Rural Development and Panchayat Department in February, asking officials to vacate disputed land, had opened a Pandora’s box for these government employees who feared that if they went ahead with implementing the order, they would face political victimisation. The order, very conveniently, has been consigned to the back burner with officials not willing to touch it even with a bargepole.

Rules say that shamlat land is normally used for establishing water supply schemes, schools, dispensaries and veterinary hospitals. “However, going by a rough estimate, in Gurdaspur district alone, 70 per cent shamlat land is under the illegal control of politicians,” revealed a senior administration official.

“The order can’t be implemented in letter and spirit because many of the encroachments are decades old and, moreover, people who have infringed on the common land have solid political backing,” admitted a senior revenue department official.

The problem is all the more acute in this district where out of a total of seven Vidhan Sabha seats, five are held by Congress legislators but on all five of these seats it is the writ of senior SAD leaders who have been designated as halqa in charges after losing the elections which runs large.

An officer, on condition of anonymity, said the maximum number of encroachments have been come up with the tacit approval of these halqa in charges. “There have been instances of some Congress-backed people encroaching on shamlat land but these very people, in an attempt to safeguard their interests, have now fallen in the fold of halqa in charges. It is these very leaders who are protecting the interests of the violators keeping an eye on the forthcoming Parliament elections,” said a SAD Minister.

Officials site various examples where people backed by the area chiefs have violated norms. In Qadian Rajputa village, falling under Fatehgarh Churian assembly segment, a villager who is a known supporter of the halqa in charge of the area, has grabbed prime shamlat land. “Who will bell the cat in this case? Even if we take the help of the police to vacate the land, we will not be able to take possession,” confided a Block Development and Panchayat Officer (BDPO).

Officials have been caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. “In case the DDPOs and BDPOs do not act against such land grabbers, it will be considered connivance on part of these officers and disciplinary action will be initiated against them,” remarked a rural development department officer.

“In order to get land vacated, panchayats move the court of the District Development and Panchayat Officer (DDPO). In Gurdaspur, there are scores of panchayats who have petitioned the DDPO but things do not seem to be moving for them as even revenue department officials work at the whims and fancies of local politicians,” said a sitting Congress legislator.

Operative hurdles

* Shamlat lands are governed by the Punjab Village Common Land Act, 1961 on the basis of which their possession and activities to be carried out on them is decided by the district administration

* However, officials covertly admit that the Act has been shredded to smithereens with local politicians grabbing massive chunks of land through their henchmen, which include sarpanches and panches of villages

* Although all these leaders deny grabbing land, yet it is common knowledge that sarpanches and panches can not indulge in such practise without the connivance of these politicians who are often hand-in-glove with middle-rung revenue department officials.