M A I N   N E W S

Evicted families to get relief
Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 9
The controversy over eviction of Sikh and Punjabi farmers in Udham Singh Nagar, Uttaranchal, ended late in the evening today following a compromise thrashed out at an emergency high-level meeting. Officials of the Uttaranchal Government, an 11-member Bharti Kisan Union delegation and BJP MLAs of the area, along with Punjab Congress men, sorted out the matter.

The deadlock was broken late in the evening after assurances from the Commissioner, Kumaon Division, Mr Rakesh Sharma, that all 251 evicted families, irrespective of the size of their land holdings, would be given compensation. The same was agreed upon by the Uttaranchal Chief Minister, Mr N.D. Tewari, said the MP from Kapurthala, Mr Gurjit Singh, while talking to The Tribune over phone.

He along with Mr Tej Prakash Singh and Mr Gurbinder Atwal represented the Punjab Congress. The local MLA of Kashipur, Mr H.S. Cheema, was also present at the meeting.

Earlier the Uttaranchal Government had offered 3.5 acres to farmers with land holding of less than 5 acres. These were just 103 families while the affected families were 251 in number. Another 39 people had built houses.

Under the compromise formula, all married members of a land-owning family would get 3.5 acres each. The 39 people whose houses were demolished would get actual compensation. This meant if someone had house valued at Rs 10 lakh, he would be adequately compensated. The present, compensation package would be reviewed.

The crop sown by these people on the disputed land could not be allowed to be harvested as the lands now belonged to the government. This time, as a special case, it would be considered a case of contract farming. The delegation of the BKU went to their chief, Mr Mahendra Singh Tikait, with the offer late at night.

The meeting had been convened after the chief of the BKU threatened to forcibly take possession of 1200 acres and hand it over to the farmers.

This decision of Mr Tikait was taken following a mahapanchayat he had convened on the issue at Aliganj in Moradabad district, Uttar Pradesh. The location of the meeting was barely 20 km from the site of eviction.

He asked his workers to start marching to the site of eviction and challenged the Uttaranchal Government to try and stop him. Frantic messages were sent to stop Mr Tikait and his men. The BKU chief agreed to send in an 11-member delegation to meet the officials at Kashipur.

These farmers had been evicted as the Supreme Court had declared the land to be surplus under the Land Ceiling Act, 1972. The evictions had been carried out in the first week of January. Senior Akali leaders had jumped into the fray and had rejected the first compensation package.