Land grab a key problem, say NRIs at meet with Punjab minister in Ludhiana

Hundreds of non-resident Indians (NRIs), including elderly couples, hailing from far-flung villages of Sangrur, Malerkotla, Barnala and Ludhiana congregated at Guru Nanak Bhawan here on Friday to highlight complaints, largely related to land grabbing.

At the third ‘Punjabi NRIs naal milni’ presided over by NRI affairs minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, issue of increased corruption at ‘patwari level’ was highlighted as majority of the cases were related to land grabbing with complainants ruing harassment by lower-rung officials. A large number of these property dispute cases were found to be subjudice, while many were ‘too complicated’ to be sorted out.

Among the complainants was Samarjit Kaur, a woman sarpanch from Dasundha Singhwala in Malerkotla, who said she and her husband were being harassed by workers of a political party and they were unable to carry out development works. Her dispute over a piece of land was also pending.

“Sarpanch naal dhakka bahut maadi gal hai (It is very bad that a sarpanch has to face harassment),” Dhaliwal said while ordering the officials concerned to address her complaint.

Another woman, Rajwant Kaur, a widow who had come from Haryana’s Faridabad, spoke about the harassment meted out to her by her husband’s brother in Canada, who she claimed had grabbed her share of property in Mullanpur Dakha in Punjab. Dhaliwal said he will do his best to ensure that her grievance was resolved.

Simranjit Singh, an 80-year-old farmer who came from Sangrur, said his son was in Canada and a piece of land belonging to him has been grabbed by their relatives. “We contested the case in court for 15 years and even after court ordered in our favour, the accused refused to vacate land,” he added.

A total of 170 cases were heard during the Friday’s programme,where Dhaliwal directed the officers concerned to resolve the cases at the earliest.

Fast-track courts will be set up soon: Dhaliwal

Minister Dhaliwal said the Punjab government would soon set up fast track courts to facilitate Punjabi NRIs and address their issues in a short span of time.

He said these courts would be dedicated to the speedy redressal of NRIs’ issues pertaining to civil matters. “I have already talked to the chief minister in this regard,” Dhaliwal said.

The cabinet minister urged the NRIs to actively participate in these meetings and said next meeting will be held in Moga on December 26 followed by Amritsar on December 30 for which NRIs can apply on www.eservices.punjab.gov.in.