Farmers plan ‘pucca morcha’ against subletting of acquired land in Rajpura
Farm bodies, who are up in arms against the state government and the Patiala administration over the contentious issue of subletting 533 acres allocated for an industrial corridor over three decades ago in Rajpura, have decided to put up a “pucca morcha” at the site on September 29.
Farmer leaders said the company that claimed to set up an industrial corridor had given the land to a coloniser who was planning to reap huge profits by selling it as commercial and residential plots.
“The land was acquired from marginal farmers for Rs 1.45 lakh per acre with a promise that it would bring employment for the villagers. Now the same land is expected to fetch Rs 5 crore per acre, around 500 per cent profit,” said farmer leader Prem Singh Bhangu.
Farm organisations under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) convened a meeting in Patiala to intensify their agitation for reclaiming 533 acres of the unused land. Union leaders said the farmers would put up a “pucca morcha” on the site on September 29 and end the protest only after the land was returned to the farmers.
Prem Singh Bhangu said the land was allocated to a company in 1994 at Rs 1.45 lakh per acre. He highlighted that a total of 1,119 acres from eight villages near Rajpura were acquired in 1994 to establish an industrial estate.
The MoU signed on October 14, 1993, between a private entity and the Punjab Government stipulated that the land would be returned if the project was not established within 10 years.
Despite that, only a chemical unit was set up on 98 acres, leaving the rest of the land unused. The MoU for 533 acres expired in 2003, but the state government extended it for 10 years in 2011, and again for three years in 2021. With the latest extension ending on October 4 and no significant development on the land, farmers demand the return of the unused 533 acres.
Bhangu said as the MoU was due to expire on October 4, in the meantime, the company clandestinely handed over the land to a coloniser and builder with a plan to sell plots.
