MULTAN, July 15: Tenants of the agricultural state lands in the Punjab have unanimously rejected the official offer of granting them short term lease (of the lands) instead of ownership rights.

A press note issued by the Anjuman Mazareen Punjab (AMP) on Monday said the official offer was being rejected after a thorough consultation with tenants’ organisations of 21 state-run agricultural farms in the province.

It may be added here that the tenants’ representatives and the government officials held talks on the subject on July 9 last at the Rangers’ Headquarters in Lahore.

Interestingly, the government was represented by a serving major-general heading the para-military force despite the fact that the owner of the land for which the tenants are demanding proprietary rights is the government of Punjab.

Tenants forwarded three options to resolve the dispute — grant of ownership rights, sell out the land on official price in easy instalments to the respective tenants or lease them out on long-term basis.

Rejecting all their proposals, the rangers chief told them that the government would only grant them a lease for a period of five to seven years and nothing more. The meeting proved inconclusive as the tenants took time to consult their fellow tenants working at 21 state-run agricultural farms.

Central leadership of AMP conducted whirl-wind tours of the farms where common tenants reportedly made it clear to them that they would not compromise less than proprietary rights as moto of their movement was “ownership or death”.

An AMP press release said the Anjuman had also rejected the official proposal because it was valid only for the military farms in Okara, Lahore, Sargodha, and Multan. “The AMP was clear on the subject that when it talked to the government it was negotiating for the tenants of both military and agriculture department farms in the province.”

The anjuman observed that negotiations through military officials instead of the government of Punjab showed non-serious and hypocritical stance of the government. “Unless the actual owner is involved (in the negotiations) the dialogue cannot prove fruitful.”

The anjuman demanded conducive environment for a successful dialogue, immediate restoration of amenities like irrigation water, electricity and telephone service to the under-siege farms of Peerowal, Sahiwal and Multan. — Correspondent