Times
of India: Chandigarh: Friday, 13 March 2015.
Harvinder
Kaur, 77, of Jandusingha village, near Jalandhar, and 82-year-old Nakodar-based
Sibbo maybe separated by many kilometers, but they are fighting the same
battle. Both are war widows who have been waiting for nearly five decades to
get the land allotted to them in recognition of the gallantary of their
braveheart husbands in the 1962 Indo-China war. They are not the only ones.
These widows,
injured soldiers and dependents are entitled to land under the Punjab Package
Deal Properties (Disposal) Rules, 1976, according to which the Punjab
government was to give 10 acres of cultivable land to permanently disabled
soldiers, widow or parents or children of soldiers killed in the Chinese
aggression of 1962 and the Pakistan aggression of 1965 and widows of those
killed in the Indo-Pakistan war in 1971.
As per data
procured from Director Sainik Welfare Punjab through RTI, 161 cases of land
allotment to war widows and soldiers injured in 1962, 1965 and 1971 wars are
still pending before the state government.
Harvinder
Kaur's tale mirrors that of many others. Her husband Sepoy Ajit Singh of Sikh
regiment had attained martyrdom in NEFA during Indo-China war, and the
authorities had sent her a letter in 1966 promising 10-acre land in recognition
of his gallantry. She has heard nothing after that.
Sibbo, who
has had to struggle to bring up her three kids on the meagre pension after the
death of her husband in 1962 war, points out that her three sons would not have
been forced to take up labourer's jobs if the government had provided land at
the appropriate time. Her case is pending before the authorities for the last
50 years.
Getting the
promised land would have made a lot of difference for Sepoy Amrik Singh of
Jalandhar, who was injured during the 1965 war at the age of 20 and discharged
from the Army on account of disability. "On March 15, 1973, I had applied
for the land as per the Punjab government policy. I was assured by the state
authorities twice about the allotment of land, but recently revenue officials
informed me that that my file is not traceable. I am at the fag-end of my life
and if nothing has happened in decades, I don't think I will be able to get the
land in my lifetime," said the 70-year-old.
Documents
with TOI show that out of 161 cases, 29 war widows had approached the
authorities for land allotment between 1962 and 1976, and the remaining 132
widows and injured soldiers and their dependents had applied between 1971 and
2010.
Out of these,
some widows or dependents of martyrs sought judicial intervention. A bunch of
petitions are still pending before the HC, seeking directions to get the land
under state's policy.
Lt Col SS
Sohi (Retd), president, Ex-servicemen grievance cell, Mohali, said a soldier
goes to war as matter of duty, not for monetary gain, but a scheme voluntarily
announced by the state in recognition of their bravery should be fulfilled by
the state immediately.
"Information
received sometime back revealed that the state has around 2.72 lakh acre spare
government land, out of which 82,000 acre is under illegal occupation of
influential persons." Sohi added.
Sergeant
Govind Singh (retd) of Jalandhar, who had procured the RTI information, said
that several widows are living in a pathetic condition and cannot approach
courts or visit offices in Chandigarh to fight for their right. He said the
Punjab government has done nothing despite thousands of representations by
Sainik welfare boards.
Brigadier JS
Arora, Director Sainik Welfare department, Punjab, said his office is just a
verifying agency and it is the duty of revenue department to clear the cases.
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