Farm forum halts land consolidation exercise over ownership dispute in Bathinda village
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Bathinda: Farmer organisation BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) stopped an attempt by the district administration to launch a consolidation exercise to demarcate the entire landholding of Jeond village over ownership dispute on Thursday.BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) leaders Jhanda Singh Jethuike and Shingara Singh Mann said that the district administration came prepared with police force and drones.
They started the exercise, but when opposed, the officials stopped work and returned with the assurance that a meeting would be arranged with the Bathinda deputy commissioner on Friday.The conflict between original owners (landlords) and 'mujaras' (tillers) concerns nearly 2,151 acres of land. While the landlords want a one-third share under the 'Ala Malik Adna Malik' Act prevalent in the early 1950s amounting to 717 acres, the tillers argue they have been tilling the land for the last 107 years and will not relinquish any part of it.The farmer organisation supported the cultivators and decided to proceed along the lines of the Pepsu Mujara Lehar (movement for obtaining ownership rights for tenants) of the 1930s-40s.The original owners approached the Punjab and Haryana high court. A bench, in its order on April 24, 2023, directed the authorities to complete the consolidation within six weeks. When it was not done, the petitioners filed a contempt of court petition on Dec 15, 2023. The court, in its order on Jan 8, 2025, directed the authorities to prepare and complete the revenue records, followed by the initiation of consolidation proceedings by Jan 30, 2025. It also directed that the secretary, department of revenue, Punjab, join the proceedings via video-conferencing on the fixed date. If unable to provide a justifiable explanation, an amount up to Rs1 lakh would be ordered to be paid from his/her own pocket as litigation cost to the petitioner for delaying the proceedings in the contempt petition, the court said. When the administration went for consolidation demarcation on Jan 20, 2025, the farmers opposed it, leading to a confrontation.The administration then prepared to conduct demarcation through drones to prepare 'murabbas' (a part of land measuring 25 acres) and further demarcate up to 1 acre or even less if there are more shareholders in the specified measurement of land.MSID:: 120995260 413 |MSID:: 120995260 413 |
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