92 acres of panchayat land freed in two days: Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal

Patiala, May 7

The government has freed 92 acre of illegally acquired panchayat land from encroachers in two days in the state. This information was given by Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal during a press conference at the Circuit House here today.

The minister said on May 5 and 6, the government freed 60 acre of land in Patiala district, 12 acre in Hoshiarpur district and around 20 acre shamlat land in Fazilka district. The released land has been handed over to the gram panchayats concerned, he said.

Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said under a special drive across the state in the first phase, the state government has set a target of vacating 5,000 acre of panchayat land by May 31.

He said hundreds of acres would be freed from illegal possessions in the next week, out of which 319 acre falls in Patiala district. The minister said many people had paid the outstanding chakota (contract fee) pending for many years. On a rough basis, about Rs 257 crore of land has been returned to the government so far.

The minister said with the introduction of phased planting of paddy by the government in the state, the ground water would be saved and the timing of paddy marketing would also be better.