Encroachment on panchayat land to be removed, says Punjab minister

Punjab Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Kuldeep Dhaliwal on Monday ordered a probe into encroachment on all panchayat lands in the state.

The minister also said a special drive will also be launched to remove encroachments on 'panchayat' lands.

In the first phase of this drive, encroachments on 5,000 acres of panchayat land will be removed by May 31, an official release quoted him as saying.

Dhaliwal stated this while chairing a meeting with additional deputy commissioners and district development and panchayat officers here, according to the release.

The minister also issued an order for videography to ensure transparent annual auction of agriculture panchayat land from this year.

''Strict action will be initiated against erring officials if anyone found involved in giving favours to a person during the auction process,'' he said.

The minister further directed the officials to conduct an investigation to ascertain decreasing annual auction rates of some panchayat lands and warned that action will be taken against those found responsible for the decline. PTI CHS VSD CK