Asserting the Congress government was committed to freeing 'shamlat' land (village common land) from encroachment, Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu told the state Assembly that the value of such land could probably match the repayment of the entire debt of the state.
To AAP MLA Kanwar Sandhu's question about steps being taken to vacate government land from illegal occupation in Kharar and Naya Gaon in Mohali, Sidhu said, "Mutation of shamlat lands of Punjab was in collusion done in the names of private persons in the year 1995. Matter of such lands of Mohali district adjacent to Chandigarh are pending in the high court."
The local government minister also informed the House that the high court had constituted Justice Kuldeep Singh tribunal in 2011, according to which mutations had been wrongly done in names of private persons in 1995.
"The present value of these lands is tentatively to the tune of lakhs of crore rupees. In case the status of shamlat lands of entire state is viewed, its value would be behemoth, probably matching the repayment of total loan of the state of Punjab," Sidhu said.
Notably, the total outstanding debt of Punjab had been pegged at Rs 2,12,276 crore for the year 2018-19.
Sharing details of the result of the steps taken to free encroached land, Sidhu said 1,200 kanals of land had been freed in Chandigarh's periphery area.
He said, "6,600 acres of land belonging to the forest department has also been vacated from illegal occupation while 31,000 acres of land has been encroached upon in Pathankot."
The minister informed the House that the state government had formed a committee to take steps to vacate the government land from encroachers and it would soon submit its report to the Cabinet.
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