A few decades ago, the Punjab government had taken a decision to allot 10 acres to widows/orphaned children of soldiers and parents of unmarried soldiers who were killed in wars against Pakistan and China. The provisions for an earlier letter on the subject for submission of applications for this were extended up to September 15, 1974.
Of the 800 affected cases, 229 widows were not allotted land as most of them being uneducated did not know about this provision. Their cases came to light only in 1987. The Director Sainik Welfare, Punjab, had submitted a district-wise list of these widows to the secretary, defence services welfare, Punjab, in May 1996.
Many widows out of this list are still waiting to get the promised land. There is another category of 23 widows who were fighting court cases because the possession of land allotted to them had not been given to them.
After a 15-year-long legal battle, Mohinder Kaur, a widow of 1962 war, won her case for the change of allotment of 10 acres from Patiala to Ropar district in 1987. Consequently, she was allotted only 30 kanals instead of 80 kanals in Kharar. The remaining 50 kanals has still not been allotted to her, despite her repeated requests to the tehsildar. Her case was brought to our notice by Lieut-Col S.S. Sohi (retd), president, ex-servicemen’s grievances cell, last week.
Source:-TNS