Institutions on govt land to be regularised

Ludhiana: The Punjab govt is moving forward with a plan to regularise schools, colleges, hospitals, police stations, and other institutions operating on govt land for years. Following a proposal presented to the state cabinet, input has been sought from the district officials to ensure smooth implementation of the policy.
In Ludhiana, a long-standing dispute has persisted over institutes on the DMC Hospital Road, including a prominent school and college.Since 2015, the lease for educational institutes has been unresolved. Similar issues exist with a charitable hospital in Model Town and shops on govt land in Jawahar Nagar. In 2015, concerns were raised that educational institutes were collecting significant funds from parents, while the govt received no revenue from the land use. Proposals to address this issue were discussed at municipal corporation meetings but without resolution.

A local body official noted that many of these institutes were granted govt land on lease years ago, but the rent has not been collected since. Some of these leases have even expired without renewal.
Under the Punjab Property Management Act, the state aims at transferring or regularising the occupation of these institutes. The Price Fixation Committee, composed of MPs, legislators, and department officials, will make recommendations to the govt for final approval.