9K acre panchayat land freed in Punjab: Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 19

Punjab Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal has sought the support of Punjabis to make the state ‘Rangla Punjab’. He has appealed to all Punjabis, who have illegally occupied panchayat land, to come forward and vacate the land.

Checking shamlat land record

Old record related to shamlat land is being examined and the work has been done in 153 blocks so far. A total of 1,39,818-acre such land has been identified. — Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Rural Development & Panchayat minister

Dhaliwal said on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, a campaign was launched by the Department of Rural Development and Panchayats last year to get rid of illegal encroachments and for demarcation of panchayat lands in the villages. He said under the campaign, illegal constructions on 9,389-acre panchayat land had been razed.

The Cabinet Minister said old record related to shamlat land was being examined and the work had been done in 153 blocks so far. He said the department had identified 1,39,818-acre such land, which will be used for the welfare of people.

Dhaliwal said 6,206-acre land under Patiala division had been freed from illegal possession and handed over to concerned panchayats for proper usage. He said illegal encroachment on 1,100-acre land in Patiala, 808 acres in Ludhiana, 464 acres in Fatehgarh Sahib, 194 acres in Sangrur, 3,469 acres in SAS Nagar, 154 acres in Rupnagar, eight acres in Barnala and nine acres in Malerkotla had been removed with the help of law enforcement agencies.

The Cabinet Minister further said 507-acre land under Ferozepur division had been freed from encroachments. He added that encroachments were removed from 128 acres in Ferozepur, 187 acres in Fazilka, 27 acres in Muktsar Sahib, 13 acres in Mansa, 49 acres in Bathinda, 26 acres in Moga and 77 acres in Faridkot. Similarly, illegal possession was removed from 2,676 acres in Jalandhar, 609 acres in Gurdaspur, 602 acres in Kapurthala, 264 acres in Amritsar, 239 acres in Jalandhar, 308 acres in Hoshiarpur, 126 acres in Tarn Taran, 228 acres in SBS Nagar and 300 acres in Pathankot.

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