Punjab Cabinet Minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria on Thursday said that it would pave the way for agrarian reforms to empower tillers.

Chandigarh: Describing the Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh led Punjab Cabinet’s decision to give the proprietary rights to certain categories as a path-breaking, Punjab Cabinet Minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria on Thursday said that it would pave the way for agrarian reforms to empower tillers.

With this historic decision, Sarkaria said that some 11231 persons in certain categories occupying private land spread over 4000 acres in the state of Punjab would get the proprietary rights after payment of due compensation as per grades to be notified by the government shortly.

Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria

Notably, the Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh yesterday approved ‘The Punjab Bhondedar, Butemar, Dohlidar, Insar Miadi, Mukarraridar, Mundhimar, Panahi Qadeem, Saunjidar, or Taraddadkar (Vesting of Proprietary Rights) Bill, 2020’ to confer proprietary rights upon certain categories of persons in occupation of agrarian land in the state.

Expressing gratitude towards the Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, Cabinet Minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria said that this measure would go a long way to empower tillers of such land, who belong mostly to the economically and socially weaker sections of the society.

He said that these tenants have been in occupation of small parcels of land for several years and inherit their rights by succession from generation to generation. However, since they were not recorded as owners, they could neither access financial institutions for crop loans nor get calamity relief.

Capt Amarinder Singh

With this step taken by Punjab Government these categories would get a big relief and they will get proprietary rights and would entitled to get crop loans and calamity relief like other land holders, he added.

These categories were left out at the time of vesting of proprietary rights to occupancy tenants under the Punjab Occupancy Tenants (Vesting of Proprietary Rights) Act, 1952 (Act 8 of 1953) and PEPSU Occupancy Tenants (Vesting of Proprietary Rights) Act, 1954 (Act 18 of 1954).

Pertinently, the Punjab Government has established the Revenue Commission to make existing laws, rules and procedures relating to land administration, transparent, simpler and people-friendly, in accordance with modern agriculture and non-agricultural practices.