OKARA: Farmers from villages of tehsil Depalpur on Monday staged a protest demonstration in front of the district coordination officer (DCO) office against their tehsil administration for cancelling allotment of the government agricultural land and allotting it to the influential persons.

The farmers of Chak 26/D and Chak 25/D of these lands, led by Allah Yar and Muhammad Akram, reached the district complex on tractor-trolleys and displayed banners, inscribed with their demands, in front of the DCO office.

Talking to this correspondent, they said the high-ups of the tehsil revenue department had unlawfully and without any prior legal notice cancelled allotment of 28 pieces of land (each measuring 12.5 acre) out of 32 lots in Chak 26/D and Chak 25/D during the last four to five months. They said since 2010 the chunks of land were allotted against Rs40,000 per acre but now the per acre allotment was just Rs16,000 for the new illegal allottees. They said they had registered complaints with the higher authorities against the move but in vain. They demanded the Punjab government take notice of the situation and allot the land to the genuine allottees.

Published in Dawn, June 16th, 2015

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