GUJRAT: The Punjab Land Record Authority (PLRA) has agreed to issue gunny bags to the wheat farmers whose ownership of land as per the government record do not match with that of the cultivated land mentioned in their applications.

Earlier, the authority had decided to reject such kind of applications due to differences in ownership of the land and cultivated land.

On the other hand, the land revenue department has clarified the gunny bags will be issued to small as well as big landholders but they would be issued bags for maximum 10 acres land even if the farmers own more land. Each applicant would get seven bags per acre which means that maximum 70 bags would be given to the farmers with the purpose to accommodate as many small farmers as possible.

Earlier, the farmers had lodged a protest against the PLRA for rejecting the whole applications of some farmers on the basis of difference in ownership of the land as with that of the cultivated land mentioned in their applications. Many farmers cultivate land on tenant or contract basis in addition to their own piece of land and they apply for the issuance of gunny bags as per the cultivated land.

A senior official in the land revenue department told Dawn the department had recommended the change in such a harsh policy of rejection of the applications and asked the authorities concerned to accommodate such farmers by issuance of gunny bags at least against the land owned by these farmers as per official land record. He added that the PLRA and Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) had agreed on the recommendation by the land revenue department after which the computerised data of the applicants had been updated on the portal of PITB, another government agency involved in the process of wheat procurement.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2018