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Punjab Government on Monday announced to extend the deadline by a month for the people to voluntarily relinquish possession of the panchayat or government land by June 30, after which action would be initiated. Earlier, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had warned the encroachers to immediately hand over the government or panchayat land to the government by May 31. 

Accepting another demand of the farmer leaders, the Government has also decided to issue a15 days prior notice before removing the illegal encroachments from panchayat lands. The decisions were taken during a meeting between the state’s Rural Development and Panchayats Minister Kuldeep Dhaliwal and representatives of 23 farmers’ organizations at Punjab Bhawan on Monday.

Declaring that the Punjab Government will continue its drive to remove illegal occupants from Panchayat lands, Dhaliwal said that the interests of poor and small farmers would be fully protected. At the same time, the Minister said that the Punjab Government was removing illegal occupants from the Panchayat lands only after completing the legal process. He also made it clear that no one’s house would be demolished.

The Minister, on the request of the farmer leaders, issued directions to the Department’s officers to ensure that 15 days notice be served before removing illegal encroachments from panchayat lands. “If any illegal occupier wants to present any document in his favour, he can give it to the District Development and Panchayat Officer, which will be thoroughly examined,” he said.