Proposed district status raises hope, scepticism

Ravi Dhaliwal

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Tribune News Service

Batala, September 7

The proposal to elevate Batala sub-divisional town to a full-fledged district is being met with scepticism and hope in equal measure.

There is a section of residents which claim that if the move fructifies Gurdaspur district will be reduced to a lame duck, while there are others who maintain that “the smaller a district the better it can be administered”.

In 2011, Pathankot was carved out as a separate entity from Gurdaspur. Before that Gurdaspur had 1,530 villages. After the division, it was left with 1,279 villages. And now, if Batala is separated, just 800 odd villages will remain.

In 1988, the government of the day driven by exigencies of terrorism, had designated Batala as a police district.

Gurdaspur-based advocate Santokh Singh Basra claims a majority of his ilk will be left with no work if the government decides on a division. “Lawyers who have their practices in Gurdaspur will be rendered idle as litigants will get their judicial work done in Batala itself. My brethren will suffer a big financial loss?” said Basra.

“Batala is Punjab’s eighth largest city and has a large number of industrial units. The city’s Municipal Committee has already been elevated to the status of a corporation following which more funds are now available. If Malerkotla sub-division with 150 villages in its fold can be converted into a district, why can’t Batala, which has nearly 480 villages?” questioned Dr Satnam Singh Nijjar, Chairman, Gurdaspur district planning committee.