In Fazilka, 1,200 lack land ownership rights

Hundreds of farmers tilling government land in state’s Ferozepur and Fazilka districts for decades are afraid of losing out on compensation for crop damage this time too.

Despite being in possession of such land for decades, they lack ownership rights, a technicality that has deprived them of relief whenever a calamity strikes.

Many families are those whose forefathers had migrated at the time of the Partition from Pakistan’s Punjab and settled here, with the government giving them the right of cultivation on land owned by it.

The aggrieved farmers have been demanding the restoration of “girdawaris”, including entry of crop details, land usage and tillers’ name in revenue records, for long.

Over the years, the land remains in the government’s name.

According to government sources, though they do not have exact numbers, there are roughly 1,200 such farmers in Fazilka alone, possessing 3,000 acres of government land for years.

As aggrieved farmers demand ownership rights so that they could get relief, Additional Chief Secretary (ACS)-cum-Financial Commissioner (Revenue and Rehabilitation) Anurag Verma said several villagers had taken up the matter with him. “We are looking into the problem but it could take some time. It is being seen as to how such farmers could be compensated for the loss they havesuffered due to floods,” a source said.

The affected farmers had also raised the issue before Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria when they visited the area.