In Punjab, abettors of land grabbers go scot-free

LAHORE: Fearing the opening a Pandora’s Box, the PTI-led provincial government seems to have deliberately turned a blind eye to the abettors of land grabbers, allowing the very functionaries responsible for protecting the government land to go scot-free during the entire stretch of the campaign to date.

According to the data collected by The Express Tribune from the all the concerned offices, apparently, no inquiry has been carried out against any government servant to ascertain why state-owned land was encroached in the first place.

The entire focus of the government was to retrieve the land from the clutches of land grabbers, and in the process, many of the FIRs lodged against illegal occupants were under sections of law that pertained to creating hindrances in government work. Per several assistant commissioners, sections of law pertaining to encroachment were not used except for in certain cases.

According to several senior government servants in the province – who have previously served as Deputy Commissioners in Punjab – no land owned by the provincial or the federal government can be encroached upon without either the connivance of the very offices entrusted with the task to protect the land or due to their negligence. In either case, an inquiry should be held to investigate the misconduct.

Officers also explained that many low-ranking government servants have made millions by colluding with land mafia. This money also travelled upwards – to superior officers – to force them to remain silent and pretend as if they know nothing.

Officers further detailed that no matter how strong the land mafia is, corrupted government officers still got their share from the encroachers in one form or the other.

“Even when some of the officers, posted as DCs during the tenure of the previous government, tried to hold inquiries regarding the activities of suspicious individuals, the matter died down because of the use of influence or through immediate relief from appellate authorities,” a senior officer informed The Express Tribune.

Officers further stated that it would be unfair to the system if some black sheep were allowed to continue to serve in the government and guard the same land that they once helped allowed to get encroached.

“It will be like allowing a fox to guard a hen house,” one of the officers opined. “[Allowing dishonest officers to continue to hold positions in the government] would be unfair to the honest, hardworking low-ranking government servants who try to make both ends meet in through their hard-earned monthly salaries.”

One of the officers, who talked to The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity, went on to say that it would be like giving an amnesty to corrupt government servants.

“The current government got its mandate on the slogan of holding accountability of the corrupt. Then why is this government shying away from probing the matter?” the officer questioned, adding that the government fears a backlash from within the system because of which it is not willing to take action.

“Unless and until corrupt officers are made to pay for their crimes, government lands would continue to be encroached without anyone batting an eye and allowing the same people to make money off the malpractice again,” he said.

Assistant Commissioner Lahore Ahmad Raza Butt, who has led the encroachment operations in the most thickly-populated commercial markets of Lahore, said that it is very difficult to find who is responsible in these matters.

“When issues are taken up with the higher authorities, there are no substantial evidences to incriminate officers,” Butt added. “[Therefore], inquiries should be held to ascertain if any government officer at any level has been involved in providing shelter to the mafias.”

Butt also confirmed that multiple FIRs have been lodged during these operations but majority were under sections pertaining to creating hindrance in government work and very few under the section of encroachment.

Speaking on the matter, Commissioner Lahore Muhammad Mujtaba Paracha said that the government has been toeing a very practical policy in securing state-owned land and putting it to good use.

“The government has been considering various options regarding the retrieved land to ensure it is not encroached upon again,” Paracha said.

On April 4, 2019, the Minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Local Government & Community Development Muhammad Basharat Raja addressed a meeting and said that the local bodies have evacuated more than 100,000 acres of state-owned land worth Rs180 billion during the on-going anti-encroachment drive across the province.

“The most precious, 7354 acres of land worth Rs145 billion has been evacuated in Lahore, while 58,177 acres of land has been evacuated in DG Khan, 20,963 acres in Faisalabad, 11,740 acres in Sargodha, 4,709 acres in Sahiwal, 3873 acres in Multan, 3312 acres in Gujranwala, 2695 acres in Bahawalpur and 909 acres of state-owned land has been emptied of illegal occupation in the Rawalpindi Division,” he said.

The minister also directed the deputy commissioners and other relevant officers in Punjab to continue the drive with more strength and ensuring that no encroachments resume on such lands in future. He warned the heads of relevant departments of strict action and said that if any officer, irrespective of their seniority level, is found guilty of involvement in corruption, they will be held accountable for that.

It was also learned that per the available data, 623 FIRs had been lodged in Lahore alone while fines worth of Rs471,000 were imposed. According to almost all the officers that spoke to The Express Tribune, despite the complaints, not a single inquiry had been initiated against any government officer.

It has been learnt that the government is considering the sale of surplus state-owned land that is not required even for any futuristic use. The Express Tribune further learned that the government intends to earn billions by disposing off this land that would provide some relief to the cash-strapped government.

When approached, a member of the Colonies Board of Revenue Sohail Shehzad talking told The Express Tribune said that all district governments have been asked to identify their surplus lands and report them to his office.

“Districts governments have also been asked to identify the land that may be required for any use in future so that the remaining land with the districts can been identified,” he said. “In first phase, we propose to auction lands which are under the possession of districts, whereas in the later stages, lands under the possession of the other provincial department might also be brought for auction through the Punjab Privatisation Board,” Shehzad said.

He said that the matter was being deliberated by the Cabinet Committee on Legislative Business, adding that the third meeting of the committee was held on Monday, April 8, wherein he was expecting to receive a green signal for the finalisation of the policy discussion.

“Once through the Cabinet Committee, the matter would be then be taken to the Cabinet for its approval on the subject,” he explained.

According to another senior officer, the Board of Revenue has also sought the strength of the Punjab Privatisation Board to gear up for the gigantic task ahead.

Moreover, the board has suggested to increase the privatisation limits of its committee so as to accommodate more workload of privatisation at the committee level.