GUJRAT: The issue of acquisition of land for the University of Gujrat (UoG) has become a shuttlecock between the district coordination officer’s (DCO) office and the Gujranwala commissioner and no consensus has so far been reached on the price assessment of the required land.

The land revenue department had identified 232 kanals near the university’s Hafiz Hayat campus in Akhlas Garh village around a year ago. Owners of the land had opposed the acquisition but local political leadership and the district government convinced them to sell it in public interest.

The owners had demanded the market rate for the land that was agreed upon by the district government as well as the UoG administration. According to official sources, per acre price had been assessed at Rs2.1 million.

The Gujranwala commissioner, however, disagreed with the price and had been rejected thrice. Correspondence between him and the DCO office had been going on for six months. But the land revenue department finally accepted the price proposed by the commissioner’s office, which was said to be around Rs1.5 million per acre.

It is feared there will be another deadlock on the issue, as the land owners might not accept the new price and could go into litigation.

The district price assessment committee that met with DCO Liaquat Ali Chattha a few days ago accepted the price reportedly proposed by the commissioner’s office and a letter was sent to the higher authorities for finalising a notification of acquisition.

Extra Assistant Settlement Officer Waqar Khan Gadhi, who is handling matters of the land acquisition, confirmed the DCO’s office had finalised the rate after an approval from the price assessment committee and now approval from the commissioner office and the Punjab Board of Revenue was required to proceed further.

He said under the land acquisition law, the district government’s land revenue department was the competent authority to notify acquisition of any land in public interest.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2015

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