MULTAN, July 8: Talks between the Punjab government and the representatives of tenants of 21 state-managed agricultural and livestock farms are scheduled to be held in Lahore on Tuesday.

Governor Khalid Maqbool is likely to meet tenants’ leaders to discuss possibilities to resolve the standoff between the government and the tenants over the status of the land under their tenancies.

The state-managed farms are situated in the districts of Okara, Sahiwal, Lahore, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Vehari, Pakpattan, Multan, Bahawalpur, Jhang, Khanewal, Leiah, Khushab and Kasur. Some 68,000 acres of these farms are under the tenancy of families whose population is approximately one million.

Tenants of these farms claim that they have been cultivating the lands for nearly a century. They say the successive governments in the past had promised to give them ownership rights but none honoured its word.

They attribute the current enthusiasm in their ranks to get ownership of their respective tenancies to the announcements made by the top government functionaries like the president and the governor that the government would grant ownership rights to landless tillers especially to those cultivating state lands.

The Punjab government tried to crush the tenants’ uprising through force but their unity failed the government on this front rather miserably. Although, during the police action against tenants in Okara and Peerowal, a number of causalities were reported besides injuries to both tenants and law enforcers.

At some places like Peerowal, Kala Shah Kaku and Yousafwala the government is denying the tenants’ ownership rights under the pretext of agriculture research while on the other, it is offering them alternative lands or short-term lease. The government has directed the tenants of all the state-managed farms to accept the status of lessees, but they have not only refused to obey the direction but also denied the government its share in the last wheat crop.

Tenants of the research farms say they are ready to sign a contract with the government to help assist in research and seed production provided the government give them ownership rights.

Meanwhile, tension at the Peerowal farms reduced on Monday when the police ended siege to the farms. Now the police were present at the PSC offices and the processing plant.

The Anjuman-i-Mazareen Punjab had threatened on Sunday that it would boycott the July 9 talks with the government if the police did not end the siege and the amenities like electricity, irrigation water and telephone service were not restored.

When contacted, it was learnt that electricity to Peerowal farms had been restored by Monday afternoon, while irrigation water supply and telephone service had yet to be restored.