LAHORE: Punjab law minister Basharat Raja says the state land owned by the cooperatives department in the province worth billions of rupees has been retrieved from the mafia and recovery of government arrears is under way.

He said the land was owned by Punjab Cooperatives Liquidation Board that had more than 4,500 kanals of commercial, residential and agricultural lands in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Sargodha, Kasur, Attock, Murree and other cities. He said the mafia had kept that land in its illegal control for years. He said the 764 kanals of land at Thokar Niaz Beg, Jalalpura and other places of Lahore alone had been retrieved during the last six months.

The law minister said he had also directed the Punjab Cooperatives Bank Limited authorities to take effective steps to get its land vacated from the mafia as soon as possible.

Mr Raja said the election schedule had been issued to revive the inactive cooperatives societies while regular appointment was being made soon to fill the long vacant post of the Cooperative Bank president.

“Furthermore, cooperatives stores and service centres are being rehabilitated and issuance of easy loans to farmers for purchase of agricultural implements through the Cooperatives Bank will be resumed soon,” he said.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2021