Caught between border & official apathy, Punjab farmers struggle to get compensation

GS Paul

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Amritsar, July 14

Living at a stone’s throw from Pakistan, as close as 0-100 yards, farmers who till their land across the International Border fence are struggling to get the ‘inconvenience compensation’ of Rs 10,000 per acre due to official apathy.

The Centre and the state government equally bear the compensation amount that’s paid annually. The Centre releases the funds only for the next year after receiving the utilisation certificate (UC) from the state for the earlier released amount.

The compensation is evaluated as per the border area falling under the jurisdiction of the respective border district. As the fence is installed on the Indian territory of the 553-km International Border, a total of 21,600 acres in 220 villages of six districts — Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Ferozepur and Fazilka — is on the Pakistan side. Barring the disputed land, 17, 654 acres is taken into consideration.

553 km IB with Pakistan

461 km border is fenced

Approximately Rs 17.65 crore, equally contributed by the Centre and the state government, as compensation for the period between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022 was received. The process of its disbursal is underway.

Presently, 461 km of border is fenced to curb infiltration, illegal supply of arms, drugs and other forbidden materials from Pakistan. In Amritsar district, 3,801 acres of agricultural land is sandwiched between the barbed fence and the Zero Line – the actual border with Pakistan.

Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori said the total compensation evaluated was Rs 3.80 crore for 2022. It was meant to be distributed among 4,155 farmers belonging to three sub-divisions — Amritsar-II, Ajnala and Lopoke. An amount of Rs 2.79 crore had already been disbursed to 2,354 farmers.

He said said the SDMs had been asked to get announcements done through gurdwaras so that no one was left out. Advertisements had also been published in newspapers and the patwaris concerned had been told to apprise the eligible farmers to get the compensation, he added.

In Tarn Taran, 4,102 acres is beyond the fence Of the total Rs 4.10 crore received, Rs 3.90 crore was paid to eligible farmers. The remaining amount of Rs 19.71 lakh was surrendered for lack of claimants.

In Gurdaspur, for 2,121 acres, Rs 2.12 crore was received and distributed among farmers. In Pathankot, Rs 1.08 crore was distributed for 1,083 acres across the fence. In Ferozepur, a compensation of Rs 3.11 crore was given to farmers for 3,112 acres. In Fazilka, for 3,432 acres, Rs 3.29 crore was distributed of the total Rs 3.43 crore received.

Punjab Border Area Kisan Union vice-president Surjit Singh, who owns land in Khemkaran sector of the border belt, said: “The compensation started with Rs 2,500 an acre, but was stopped after two years. Following a long legal battle and protests, it was revised to Rs 10,000 per acre from 2015.”

Rattan Singh Randhawa of the Border Area Sangharsh Committee rued the delay in payment. “Even if the Centre pays its share, the state government delays the things. The compensation for 2022, too, was released after a wait of over four months due to laxity of revenue officials. Our struggle remains the same, irrespective of which party is in power,” he said.

Surjit Singh, another farmer, in Murakot village of Rajasansi said the disbursal procedure was cumbersome. “For disbursal, the DC assigns the task to the SDMs concerned, who further appoint the tehsildars, naib tehsildars and patwaris. Officials aren’t easily accessible and they take little interest to educate farmers about the formalities. If there’s a small mistake in furnishing the credentials, the compensation is either put on hold or surrendered as unclaimed,” he said.

Tiring checks, restrictions

• As the area is located between the barbed fence and the Zero Line, the owners of these fields have to face tiring security checks, restrictions on working hours, etc.
• In 1986, a committee led by then Punjab Chief Secretary SL Kapoor enumerated the hardships faced by the border belt agrarian community
• In 1988, the first ‘inconvenience compensation’ of Rs 2,500 per acre, as recommended by the Kapoor committee, was released
• To claim the relief, farmers have to furnish the copies of land record, bank details and Aadhaar Card to the SDMs concerned

(With inputs from Ravi Dhaliwal in Gurdaspur, Gurbaxpuri in Tarn Taran, Praful C Nagpal in Fazilka and Anirudh Gupta in Ferozepur)