E-Paper
Amid standoff with farmers, Bathinda admn notifies land consolidation at Jeond village
Punjab's revenue dept. plans land consolidation in Jeond village amid protests by BKU activists, as a court hearing on contempt notice nears.
Ahead of a hearing of the contempt notice issued by the Punjab and Haryana high court on January 30, the state revenue department has issued a notification for land consolidation at Jeond village in Bathinda.
Bathinda deputy commissioner Showkat Ahmad Parray said on Friday that a gazette notification was published on January 22, “notifying the intention to make a scheme for the purpose of better agricultural cultivation.”
“Soon, work to demarcate land to the owners will be started as per the court directions. After issuance of the notification, a field verification will be conducted and individuals may give their claims over land. Revenue record in this regard is almost ready for further step of land demarcation,” the DC added.
Meanwhile, activists of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) continued to hold a ‘pucca morcha’ (protest) at Jeond village, warning that no official would be allowed to enter the village for a land demarcation exercise until January 30.
On Friday, a large number of protesters, including women members of the union assembled at Kisan Bhawan.
According to the officials, a more than 70-year-old legal dispute between landowners and cultivator tenants is at the root of the standoff.
BKU leaders said they are open to a dialogue with the officials while the officials have maintained that they are bound to follow the court orders and talks are not possible.
On January 20, farmers clashed with cops when the administration tried to undertake a land demarcation exercise. During the clashes deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Rahul Bhardwaj suffered a fracture to his arm, while his personal security officer (PSO) was also hurt.
Parray had earlier stated that the Supreme Court had settled the matter in favour of the landowners but the farmer union obstructed officials from following high court orders.
High court, while hearing the matter filed by an aggrieved party and landowner Balraj Singh, on April 4, 2023, had directed KAP Sinha, then additional chief secretary (revenue), to carry out the completion of revenue records followed by initiating land consolidation proceedings within six weeks.
Since the court order compliance was not done, the HC judge justice Harkesh Manuja served a contempt notice on Sinha on January 8 to appear through video conferencing before the court on the next hearing date on January 30.
BKU general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan said that the volunteers are guarding boundaries at six adjoining villages to alert them of any movement of the district authorities and police towards Jeond village.
“We are fully prepared with bricks and stones to foil any attempt by the district authorities to undertake land demarcation work. The pucca morcha will continue till January 30 when the matter will be heard in the court. Our team of lawyers is working for legal recourses in the matter, and the next phase of protest will be announced after the court hearing next week,” said Kokrikalan.
According to the veteran farmer leader’s claim, agriculture land measuring about 600 acres is under dispute to which the tenants are staking ownership claim.
“More than 1,500 acres of land is with the cultivators, and another 600 acres is also with them. The BKU stands with cultivators,” Kokrikalan added.
