‘Karza Kurki Khatam’ claim falls flat in Bathinda

Thursday, 06/07/2017

http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=178265&boxid=65631&uid=&dat=2017-07-06

Bathinda : Despite the Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s repeated announcements that debt-ridden farmers will not face ‘kurki’ or sale of mortgaged property in Punjab, one such case came to the fore from Lehari village in Talwandi Sabo subdivision of Bathinda district on Wednesday. A team of district revenue officials, carrying all the documents in hands, visited debt-ridden farmer Raj Singh’s agricultural land. As the matter reached the farmer unions’ leaders, they all rushed to the spot.

Lodging protest against the officials and even gheraoing the Naib Tehsildar, who was leading the team, the agitating farmers, however, managed to foil the administration’s bid. It is learnt that Raj Singh had his loan account with a commission agent of Rama Mandi. For the past sometime, he was not able to repay the installments of the loan, for which the agent had filed a court case to get the money recovered. On his inability to repay the loan, which was about Rs 14 lakh, the court reportedly directed the district revenue officials to auction the land, following which they all went for the ‘kurki’ of the farmer’s land. After the revenue officials announced to return without executing the ‘kurki’ orders, the farmers’ union activists lifted the dharna.

They all raised anti-government slogans, alleging that the Chief Minister’s orders were just as eye-wash. “The Chief Minister has announced a number of times, even in the Vidhan Sabha during the Budget Session, that debt-ridden farmers would not face ‘kurki’ or sale of mortgaged property in Punjab,” they said. They also made mockery of the Captain Amarinder Singh’s campaign managers coined slogan ‘Karza Kurki Khatam, Fasal Di Puri Rakam (end to farm debt and its recovery, and full payment for the crop)’ ahead of the assembly polls in Punjab, saying the promise remained in words and papers only as it couldn’t be executed till date. Talwandi Sabo Tehsildar Sandhura Singh told media persons: “We have not yet received any notification disallowing the ‘kurki’ of debt-ridden farmers’ land. So the administration is simply performing its duty.” He, however, clarified that Raj Singh’s land could not be taken into possession as there was no buyer for the same. Moreover, he mentioned that the land was to undergo ‘kurki’ on the directions of the court as the agent had got the case decided in his favour.

Past IMPERFECT

It is pertinent to mention that a few days back, when the Budget Session was going on, a similar incident had been reported from Talwandi Sabo area, where the Tehsildar’s office was accused of executing a ‘kurki’ order while sitting in the office. Reacting to the query posed by media persons, Bathinda MLA and Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal had termed the act an illegal act, with an assurance to get it thoroughly probed. However, nothing has been done so far and that farmers’ land is being put on auction.