ISLAMABAD, Sept 21: The Evacuee Trust Board (ETB) has decided to auction agricultural land in the countryside.

Poor families have been cultivating the land to be auctioned for decades and in some cases for more than 70 to 80 years in various villages of the Jhelum district and the Chakwal tehsil.

The ETB recently advertized open auction, asking interested parties to deposit Rs50,000 or one-fourth of the cost of the land (whichever is less) with the remaining amount to be deposited within a month time.

The land holdings in many cases were extremely small from three marlas to a few kanals or acres. The produce from them was as meagre as from 15 to 16 maunds per acre wheat.

The occupants will have to surrender the land if they fail to offer the highest bid and the successful bidders will be required to deposit the cost of building structures, trees and debris separately.

Various human rights’ organizations have criticized the auction, saying that many families will be rendered shelterless and jobless.

The Tasaq chairman and former officer in charge for distribution of the state land to

the landless, Sikandar Hayat Khan, has suggested that transfer deeds be given to the occupants in Barani areas at the rate of 16 acres per family and 12-and-half kanals to those living in irrigated areas against nominal cost.

Mr Khan, through a letter sent to higher authorities and the president, has proposed that if the land was more than that, it be disposed of according to the ETB’s policy.