E-Paper
After 31 yrs, 134 Hoshiarpur villagers face plot cancellation
Residents, including Roop Chand, Rajinder Singh, Ram Singh, Dharamvir Singh and Satnam Singh, said 120 beneficiaries were from the village, while 14 others were included on the directions of the then additional deputy commissioner (ADC)
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Thirty-one years after 134 people from Scheduled Caste (SC) and Backward Class (BC) categories were allotted five-marla plots in Hoshiarpur village, New Chandigarh, their eligibility has been questioned, with the panchayat moving to take possession of 115 plots while 19 have been transferred to GMADA.
Residents, including Roop Chand, Rajinder Singh, Ram Singh, Dharamvir Singh and Satnam Singh, said 120 beneficiaries were from the village, while 14 others were included on the directions of the then additional deputy commissioner (ADC). A separate case concerning the 14 beneficiaries is also pending.
According to villagers, the block development and panchayat officer (BDPO) office cancelled the allotments, recording that the recipients had qualified as beneficiaries in 1995 but were no longer eligible. Officials from BDPO and rural development and panchayats department informed the allotment conditions required beneficiaries to build houses within a stipulated period, failing which the plots could be cancelled. He said the allottees could challenge the decision before the financial commissioner, revenue (FCR).
The dispute also centres on a statement reportedly submitted by the then sarpanch, Saudagar Singh, in 2017, declaring that the recipients no longer qualified as beneficiaries. Saudagar said the statement was intended to prevent mutation (intakal) of the land after the villagers lost their case in the high court (HC). He claimed the inspection team had not received the required documents.
However, Gurmel Singh, the sarpanch at the time of the 1995 allotments, disputed this account, saying the villagers had not lost their HC case and that a copy of the relevant resolution had been provided. He termed the cancellation wrong and demanded that the plots be restored or compensation paid if the land was required for road construction. He further alleged that due to a case against villagers which these allottees won in Kharar, Mohali and later in high court, the zamindars never allowed them to take possession of those plots. After villagers tried to repeal it in the HC, the matter was sent to the FCR. These allottees also met with GMADA chief administrator, Sandeep Rishi, in August to seek compensation of their plots in possession with the authority.
Villagers also questioned the transfer of 19 plots to GMADA in 2016 for road construction without their consent. They said compensation was withheld on the grounds of a pending BDPO complaint and have sought clarity on how the land was transferred while the dispute remained unresolved. Neither they received compensation nor their dispute was settled.
