GUJRAT: The district government finally used police force on Thursday to take possession of the 52-acre land acquired for the establishment of building of the Nawaz Sharif Medical College (NSMC), a constituent institute of the University of Gujrat.

Earlier, the landowners put up stiff resistance against the official move for the second consecutive day on Thursday.

On Wednesday, strong resistance by the villagers had compelled the official team to leave the site as the landowners refused to receive payment cheques.

There has been a longstanding dispute between the district government and landowners at Akhlasgarh village located on the rear side of the UoG’s Hafiz Hayat campus over the price assessed by the government.

The district government sought deployment of a heavy police contingent for Thursday’s bid which proved successful despite resistance by the villagers who gathered at the site in large numbers and chanted slogans against the government. Some of them lay on the land but the police managed to get the land vacated while the revenue department officials erected concrete pillars and installed a board showing government ownership of the land.

The district government and the landowners had agreed on Rs2.1 million per acre price as per the market rate; however the Gujranwala commissioner rejected it and ordered the district government to acquire the land according to the official rate (Rs1.5 million per acre). But the villagers refused to sell their land at the official rate.

Ultimately the commissioner’s orders prevailed and the district government issued cheques as per the official rate which the villagers refused to receive and vowed to continue their struggle against the land acquisition.

Justifying forcible possession, Gujrat District Coordination Officer Liaquat Ali Chatha said the continuous delay in completion of the land acquisition process was hampering execution of the project as a disposal station for UoG and NSMC had also to be built on that land since funds for the purpose were already released.

He said the district government would once again send another reference to the Gujranwala commissioner and the board of revenue to enhance the rate of 52-acre land and in case of increase they would be paid accordingly. “At present they will get cheques according to the previous assessment.”

Published in Dawn March 6th, 2015

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