SAS Nagar, August 28: DDPO Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, Parambeer Kaur, has clarified that the news reports appeared in a section of media, regarding the proposal for sale of Shamlat land of 17 villages, is based on misinformed facts.
       She stated that the primary objective of the Rural Development and Panchayats Department is to safeguard shamlat land from illegal encroachments, particularly small parcels located near real estate projects, as well as those leased out at nominal rates. At the same time, the department aims to enhance the revenue of Gram Panchayats through better utilization of their resources.
        Highlighting the context, she explained that the land being referred to in the report comprises small pockets of non-agricultural land, typically ranging from 500 to 1500 square yards, situated in urbanized or semi-urbanized areas such as colonies. Many of these parcels are already under encroachment or yield negligible rental income to the Gram Panchayats.
      “In such cases, district officials made an effort to identify these patches, and as per the provisions of the Act, the possibility of achieving higher commercial value through auction is being explored,” she said.
 However, she emphasized that the process is still at a very nascent stage, and any proposal will first be forwarded to the state government for consideration and formulation of a suitable policy.
     She further underlined that no decision has yet been taken either on the policy framework or on the auctioning of these land parcels.